RWBHY: The Aura Mage
by OrangeGalen
Summary: On Samhain night, Harry's sent into the Dursley's attic and finds a chest that contains a journal from Lily and a crystal. When he touches the crystal, he's sent to a world of new solutions and finds a special pair of sisters. Come September 1st, 1991, Hogwarts will get a completely different Harry; one that has training as a Hunter from Remnant. RWBY/HP storylines. Future HP/RR
1. Pilot: September 1st, 1991

**Hey everybody, two new stories in one night?(Edit: Now just one.) How about that? This is another, "what if?" spin-off idea my brain had that quickly got out of hand and needed to be put into a story. At this point, I only have a gauge direction of where this is going, so some of the early chapters may seem a bit short and not as meaty as others. But it's like fine wine: it gets better as it ages.**

 **So some things to note, this story will follow RWBY up until a certain point, and then start on the Harry Potter books.**  
 **Pairings have been decided, but the options _were_ : **  
**RubyXHarry (Which is what will happen)**  
 **YangXHarry (No)**  
 **HermioneXHarry (No)**  
 **or GinnyXHarry. (No)**

 **Also this will include some Weasley bashing, but the amount depends on stuff that happens. Oh, and Manipulative/Greater Good Dumbledore, which is the most common kind, which is a little strange if you think of it. Why do so many people like that he's not a good person... Getting off topic...**  
 **There will be slight time travel, and obviously Hunter!Harry. And this will stay mostly with the HP books, but may touch on movie events on occasion.**

 **Updates will be a little sporadic, but hopefully no long waits... heh, heh...**

 **Okay, on with the first part in this epic!**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Harry Potter. They are owned respectively by Rooster Teeth and J.K. Rowling.**

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 **Last Edit: 10/10/17**

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Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was eager to see what Hogwarts brought in this year; especially since this is the year that the penultimate stage of his master plan was about to begin.

Seeing new students brought in and sorted always reinforced the feeling of authority he had of deciding what they were going to learn, molding them the way he saw fit. As Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, he was deep into politics of the British Ministry of Magic and everybody looked to him for guidance, even Prime Minister Cornelius Fudge. Although he had been offered the position of Minister, he knew it was in reality only a figurehead position in the Ministry and as such declined the offers. And besides, there were other, more influential positions he now held, rather than an easily replaceable Minister.

As Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, he was party to every major decision that affected the wizards around the world; and because he was from Great Britain, he had the most influence on the minds of the wizards of his homeland and most of Europe. He often butted heads with the (relatively recently) over-inflated stuck-up representatives of the Magical Congress of the U.S.A, but he often overruled them on almost every major decision due to his name and reputation, which he cultivated and nurtured into what it was today.

That reputation began when he defeated his former friend and lover Gellert Grindelwald, who rose to prominence as a so-called Dark Lord during the 20's and was largely responsible for the Muggle's second world war (along with that deranged German Muggle, Adam Hidolf, or whatever his name was) and the first major Wizarding war in many years. Albus still felt a little chagrinned how Gellert decided to take his own path instead of the one they had mapped out, with growing disagreements and slightly different views about The Greater Good coming into play, as well as the tension after Ariana's death which Dumbledore still felt partially responsible for.

They had such great plans… But it was for the Greater Good that they came to blows (and Gellert was coming dangerously close to revealing their world to the Muggles before their plans were ready). It was for the best that their disagreements came out so that they could be resolved and the Wizarding world could move on, more united obviously under his vision which stayed true.

Any mention of their past relations had been carefully buried. It wouldn't do for the Leader of the Light to have a past with one of the greatest Dark Lords in recent history.

Dumbledore's reputation and prestige grew even greater when Tom Riddle, who had assumed the mantle of Lord Voldemort, rose to prominence in Britain and started gathering followers amongst the Pureblood supremacist faction. Here was yet another Dark Lord that everybody looked to Albus Dumbledore to take care of. While Dumbledore was slightly disappointed with this new 'Dark Lord', though credit was given for sheer power and charisma that was growing close to Gellert's own, this time a proverbial rapier was required instead of a claymore to handle Tom, since most of his followers were Purebloods and were instrumental in keeping the Wizarding world intact. It wouldn't survive without them. On the flip side, there were some Purebloods keeping the Wizarding society from achieving their rightful place on both sides.

Dumbledore planned to wait before acting, when the situation reached a critical juncture, and those that he needed eliminated were. Clear lines needed to be drawn before any action could be taken. The 'Death Eaters' needed to see the folly in following Tom, who would sooner see their destruction than their salvation and instead follow himself. Severus Snape had, but in a rather forced manner. Albus wished others saw enlightenment in a more natural way. Everyone knew he was powerful and even Tom was hesitant to fight him. The plan originally was that once he defeated Tom and became the savior of the wizarding world again he would offer the remaining Death Eaters redemption and have them indebted to him, allowing Albus to reveal his grand design for a Wizarding utopia to all and gain massive support.

He couldn't kill Tom directly though. Since Ariana's death he was hesitant to raise a wand with the intent to kill. If he were to have that intent however, it would have to be a last resort measure or to further the Greater Good. He was still hopeful that Tom would come around and join his plan. All it would take were a few duels and well placed words and Tom would come to the light after unifying the other wizards under Dumbledore's cause.

However, the unexpected prophecy from that near fraud threw a ward scheme into his plans. Both the Potters and the Longbottoms had children that fit the prophecy's description and it wouldn't do for their children to become the ones that everyone looked to as the leaders of light... so soon, if at all. Not before he had finished his mission of creating a unified magical Britain and mentored them into maintaining his ideals. It saddened him that he had to do what was necessary, as both families were ardent supporters of his (not to mention purebloods, or close enough) and either of their losses would be felt dearly in the community.

Eventually he found that the Potters were the ones Tom was hunting so he made good use of them while he could, strong arming them with the prophesy, and put their money to his own goals for the future. It was good that he reached the point he was at before that Halloween, as he didn't like how suspicious Lily became over the years. She was always bright, too bright for his purposes, and he didn't hold as much guilt over her necessary death as he had her husband's.

She would've never been accepted at large into the world he would create anyway.

In the aftermath of that Halloween night however, he knew that Tom wasn't as gone as many would believe, and that the prophecy had yet to be fulfilled as young Harry Potter had survived, marked as an equal. Somehow Tom had achieved a way of cheating death, and Albus didn't _exactly_ know which method he used (since there were many _supposed_ methods), but he strongly suspected Horcruxes, with the dark mass he detected in Harry's scar leading credence. And with that prophesy, it meant that Harry needed to die to end Tom; but in the right way, by sacrifice to further the light side's struggle.

That was his plan now, with several threads cast weaving together to create a greater web. Lily's protection over her son was bent to cast blood wards over her sister's house to keep Harry safe from leftover Death Eaters who hadn't completely renounced Tom for some reason (such as the insane Bellatrix Lestrange neé Black), and also his relatives from _him_ as the ward would siphon magic from the boy to keep his bouts of accidental magic to a minimum. Or rather to a normal amount even after Albus had placed a block on Harry's magic. Harry's magic was already strong for someone of that age, and it would've been even greater due to the nature of the Prophesy without the wards and block, which wouldn't do. The way it was now, Harry won't have as much built up power coming to Hogwarts as he should have. A powerful Potter was a scenario Albus didn't want because that was one reason Tom became so uncontrollably influential: his power. The stronger the wizard (or rare witch), the more pull on other's magic they would have.

If Albus hadn't done what he did, Harry's magic would have been as strong as Tom's upon exiting Hogwarts… if not stronger.

Since Harry's magic would be restrained, that would mean less accidental magic for his relatives to react to and to be in danger from. Accidental magic was unpredictable and reacted to emotions. If Harry's magic wasn't restrained then either he would escape and/or kill the Dursleys, or the Dursley's would beat him for showing magic. He would hate to have to explain to the public why the 'savior' had died under his caretaker's roof.

Yes, Dumbledore knew that Harry was in a magic hating household, but that was so he would be malleable to his designs. That was why it was imperative that the Potter's Will be sealed and Sirius Black be placed in Azkaban so he couldn't raise Harry, though it saddened Dumbledore to have to do that to the Black boy. The Black family had always been dark, except for Sirius who was proof that the dark side could be redeemed. To have him in Azkaban while Peter Pettigrew roams free gave him heartache, but it was for the Greater Good. Black was a little too uncontrollable and impulsive to be a good guardian and role model for young Harry, unlike himself.

His plans for the boy were progressive and needed to be carefully crafted so Harry would be ready to give his life for the Greater Good. Dumbledore's Greater Good. Harry would come to Hogwarts, alone, confused, and meek, yearning for someone to look up to -which would be Albus himself- and be completely ignorant of the Wizarding world until Hagrid was sent to get him. Then he would mold the boy to be the martyr needed for his new Wizarding world.

It had been interesting and a tad surprising when Minerva McGonagall, the transfiguration professor and deputy headmistress, came into his office upon receiving a letter from Harry asking to explain the Hogwarts Letter he'd gotten, thinking that it was a joke. _I suppose it might have been possible for Harry to receive and send a letter without the Dursleys knowing,_ he reasoned. After assuring McGonagall that he would take care of it and she should focus on the incoming muggleborns, he waited without responding back. It was sooner than expected, but the Dursleys eventually left their house like a Cerberus was after them, unexpectedly leaving Harry all alone in their house. He'd thought they would've taken him with them, but that was minor.

The meeting after the half-giant collected Harry and showed him around Diagon Alley had been enlightening, more so than Albus expected. The meeting was more for ceremonial show than anything else since Albus already thought he knew what transpired during the trip. Hagird had come to his office as requested, and after taking the offered lemon drop(s), Albus began his questioning. "So Hagrid, how is young Harry?"

"Ah, Professor, he's great. Curious 'bout everythin' tho'. He said tha' those Muggle relatives o' his kept him in tha' dark 'bout the magical world, so 'e had loads of questions. Wanted to know 'bout everything, an' seemed confused 'bout certain things in tha' Magical world. Had a lot of strange ideas, but I told him straight 'bout them."

 _Good, just as it should be. No idea about magic. It wouldn't do for Harry to have an inflated head._ Albus looked over his half-moon glasses at the half-giant and asked, "And how did the meeting go without his relatives? Did Harry seem panicked or in denial at first?"

"Nah, Harry kept calm when I told 'im 'e was a wizard. Didn't seem all tha' surprised really, but tha' might 'ave been shock." Hagrid mused. "'E seemed grateful tha' they weren't there. Said it made things smoother without disruptions."

Albus nodded sagely, something nagging at him, but he ignored it. "And how did the visit to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies go? Did you get the 'you know what?'"

"Yes, I did." Hagrid reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package. Albus smiled internally, another one of his brilliant plans, though a little early in execution since young Harry responded, forcing his hand a bit. He would use the Philosopher's Stone to lure the shade of Tom Riddle to Hogwarts where he would set up a confrontation between Harry and Tom, which would eventually end up with Harry trusting Dumbledore more. And after, he might even be able to keep the stone from the Flamels with some slight of hand. A fallback plan so to speak. Long-term compulsions were vastly underrated.

"Thank you Hagrid, I knew I could trust you with this," Albus said with a slight smile. Those complements were all Hagrid needed to feel useful and stay loyal to him. Albus had built up enough goodwill with Hagrid to make him do whatever Albus wanted, and Hagrid would be happy about it! If there was no one else, Albus knew he could trust Hagrid -the honest, malleable, simple soul he was. Strangely enough, many others were like this, just not as dedicated.

Albus put the stone into a drawer in his desk to handle later. "And the trip?"

"Tha' trip to Diagon Alley went well. Took 'Arry to his vault, got tha' Stone-" Albus winced internally. Hagrid meant well, but _could not_ keep his mouth shut at times. "-an' got all 'is stuff. 'E did buy a few more books than' were on tha' school list tho'. I told him not to waste all tha' money, but 'e said 'e just be wantin' to learn all 'e could. Didn't see tha' harm really. 'Ad to warn 'im off Knockturn Alley when we pass'd. Oh, forgot to mention!" Hagrid interrupted himself, "the wand choosing was a little odd. 'Arry seemed to not want the wand tha' he got."

That got Albus' attention, as it was something not within his permissible outcomes. "Which wand was it?" He asked, pretending to be ignorant. He already knew thanks to the letter Garrick sent immediately after Harry left. _That's another thing that's going to plan._ He wanted Harry to have the brother wand to Riddle's so he could highlight the differences between them so Harry would fight against Tom. _After all, Tom was the one that_ directly _killed his parents._

But the wandmaker didn't mention anything strange happening during the wand choosing, which was a concern for Albus.

"Ah holly with a phoenix feather, eleven inches I think," Hagrid answered.

"And you say that he didn't like it?" Albus queried.

"Well, he gave a right frown when it made tha' sparks and almos' dropped tha' wand, but he bought it anyway since it fitted 'im."

Albus pondered this with a slight frown. _That may cause slight problems in the future. The wand bonded to him even though it seems he resisted it. Unheard of -usually it's the other way around- but if it works it should keep the plan intact until completion._

After a little more talk, Albus felt reassured that the plan _was_ on track and bade Hagrid goodbye. Now all he had to do was wait for September first and let the Weasleys guide Harry onto platform 9 and ¾, introducing him to another family that were supporters of him, further pushing Harry into his guidance.

So currently Albus was sitting in his thro- _chair_ , decorated in gold as it was, at the head of the staff table, waiting for McGonagall to lead in the first years with the second through seventh years already waiting in the Great Hall. After a while, the doors opened and McGonagall strode in with a new crop of students waiting to be filled with information.

The Sorting Hat sang once again a terrible song that Albus pretended to enjoy. _You'd think that as long as it's been doing this it would have at least gained some semblance of tone._ Then the anticipated sorting began. There were a few notable names such as Susan Bones, Daphne Greengrass, Neville Longbottom, and Draco Malfoy; the last one was one that Albus needed to be extra gentle with to guide him away from his father's path. Lucius was one that still needed to see the error in his ways. Albus eagerly waited for Harry's name to be called since he had yet to catch a glimpse of the boy.

Eventually McGonagall called out "Potter, Harry!"

As Harry's name was called, Albus got his first glance at the boy he left at his Aunt's doorstep ten years ago. It was not entirely what he expected and unwelcome.

The boy was about average height for his age, and looked like a younger James Potter with Lily's green eyes. However, unlike James, Harry had no glasses to hide his eyes so they shone with a greater light.

Harry stepped up to the sorting hat, looking confidant in himself, but not swaggering in the way Severus claimed James walked (and in all honesty, James _did_ swagger on occasion). It was a casual walk that bellied a certain level of self-assurance/confidence, something that Albus didn't exactly favor. He was definitely not nervous like the other first years and under those robes was a nicely dressed and slightly well built body. Albus was wary of him not being sorted into Gryffindor, but decided to wait and see.

As Harry came up, ignoring the whisperings that his name generated, he stopped right before he got to the stool and turned to Professor McGonagall, who was still holding the hat. "Professor McGonagall, I want to inform you that my name isn't entirely accurate on the roster," he said, causing more whispers to break out, more among the staff, mostly in puzzlement as few openly contradicted the stern transfiguration teacher. He wasn't loud, but his voice carried in the hall. And he had a strange accent, close to what the American Wizards have, or at least the ones who could talk somewhat proper English without mangling it as they do.

McGonagall herself frowned in confusion, "How so?"

"It should be Harry Xiao Long-Potter instead, _but I wouldn't expect anyone to know that,_ " he said, finishing softly to himself, sounding wistful. "It's fine to address me as Potter, but for the record could you officially change the rosters later after the sorting though please?" He asked in a respectful tone.

McGonagall just dumbly nodded and Harry sat on the stool. The Hat was placed over his head and the entire school waited, with waited breath.

Albus directed his mind to the Hat with subtle Legilimency. He always did this to see where a person was most likely headed and to halt that if necessary. He couldn't directly interfere with the Hat's decision, as the Founders made sure to avoid tampering by future headmasters, but he could make it focus on certain aspects in a person that would direct them to a certain house. Mostly Albus left the Hat alone to sort naturally, except for certain people like the third oldest Weasley (which strangely the hat wanted to put in Slytherin) and right now. _Harry must be placed in Gryffindor. It would be a disaster if he were to be placed in any other house._ While Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff weren't bad houses per-se, they weren't the ones needed to encourage Harry to follow his destiny. And if Harry went into Slytherin, it would be the light side apocalypse, since almost everybody believed that Harry had been training under Dumbledore.

 _Look at all the brave things he's done. The courage needed to live the life he's lived. The potential he has to be the best Gryffindor there is. There isn't enough cunning or ambition in him to warrant sorting him into Slytherin. He's a Gryffindor like his parents before him._ Such were the thoughts Dumbledore pushed the Hat to look for.

It was silent for about a minute before the Hat finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Albus almost sighed in relief as the Gryffindor side exploded in cheers, the Weasley twins dancing around, chanting, "We got Potter, we got Potter!" _It's a good thing that the plan is still going in the right direction,_ Albus thought as Harry went to join his new House. It was one of the shorter sortings (excluding young Draco's –though Dumbledore had a theory that the Hat just didn't want to be placed on that gelled hair) which Albus was thankful for.

However, instead of sitting alone, he went directly to Neville Longbottom and a muggleborn witch, Hermione Granger, if he recalled. When Ronald was inevitably sorted into Gryffindor, (the Hat needing little Legilimency push to settle on a house for some reason) those three excluded him when he blatantly tried to barge into the conversation. _Something that would have to be remedied in the future perhaps after the boy's learned a little tact_ , Albus ruefully thought _._ After he called the feast open he kept looking over at Harry every once in a while, finding him in animated discussion with his other classmates.

 _Something is different about him,_ Dumbledore mused. _I'm not sure what, but he's different than what I'd expected. I'll have to test him to determine his willingness to follow the path of the Greater Good._

It would be an interesting couple of years.

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 **And thus ends the pilot chapter of The Aura mage. Please tell me what you think! Remember it isn't YangXHarry; I'll get to the Xiao Long-Potter thing later.**

 **Anyway: Read, Review, Favorite, and Follow! (R.R.F.F)**

 **See you for now,**

 **-OrangeGalen**


	2. Halloween 1986

**Hey people, new chapter! ...I am... astounded at the response just one chapter caused. It's slightly scary, but hey, obviously people are interested, so I'm writing!**

 **Thank you all, now on with the chapter!**

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 **Disclaimer: RWBY and HP are two things I do not own, much to my annoyance.**

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 **Last Edit: 10/10/17  
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Number 4 Privet Drive was perfectly normal if someone were looking at it from a walking-by-on-the-street viewpoint. Almost too normal, as if the people that lived there went extraordinarily out of their way to appear as normal as possible. The lawn was freshly cut, the car immaculately cleaned, and the outside painted cleanly, no pealing or weathering. It was cookie cut along with the rest of the houses on Privet Drive.

Inside lived four people, although one would only know there were three from the looks of it. Petunia Dursley neé Evans was the wife and mother of the household: taking care of her husband and son, going the extra mile to make sure they received what they thought they deserved and then some; always arriving with a nice brandy for Vernon Dursley, her husband, after he came back from a hard days work at Grunnings, which was a drill company, and making sure everything was right for Dudley, her son, and made them eat plenty as they were "big strapping men who needed their strength". She was thin with blond hair, and had a very long neck, which helped when she wanted to 'observe' her neighbors going on's.

Vernon Dursley was the second person living in the house. Having a comfortable job that brought in the money, plus getting extra on the side from another source to splurge, they all lived in a comfortable _normal_ house. He was almost the opposite of his wife physically, as he was large with a neck that was almost non-existent. If he looked straight up you might see some of it, but that was only on a rare occasion since he really had no reason to do so. He had a volatile temperament and had no fear to speak his mind (see: rant) about anything: politics, foreigners, prisoners, queers, etc.

Dudley Dursley was the last direct member of the Dursley family. At six years old, he had inherited his mother's blond hair, and his father's… shapely figure (technically round's a shape), which wasn't helped by the amount of food he received daily. He was treated very well (see: spoiled) and always got what he wanted, sometimes after a fake temper tantrum that would cause his parents to cave in eventually –or almost immediately after the crocodile tears started. Dudley was also a budding bully to other kids his age and got what he wanted after shoving them around.

The one thing he couldn't get however, and it was a universal wish amongst the Dursleys, was to get rid of the fourth and hidden occupant of the household, the one they pretended didn't exist. The very reason they worked so hard to appear normal. That person was Harry Potter.

Of all the pictures that were scattered throughout the house, you wouldn't find a single one with Harry in it. Harry knew he was a little younger than his cousin Dudley by about a month from a peak at a record he got when Petunia was filling out a school form, and he was much smaller than someone of his age should be, due to his 'room' being a cupboard under the stairs and not getting enough to eat. He was fit though in a scraggly gangly way, as he did most of the chores that needed doing around the house, such as but not limited to gathering laundry, cleaning the furniture, sweeping, cutting the grass, trimming the flowers, weeding, cooking (with the help of a chair to reach the stove), washing the car, and anything else that the Dursleys decided make him do. He also knew how to dodge and run, especially when Dudley's friends came over and started playing their new favorite game of 'Harry Hunting'.

Harry was a freaky boy, according to his Aunt and Uncle. A lot of freakish things happened around Harry, such as him re-growing his hair overnight to its usual uncontrollable black mop, clothes changing color, and other freaky things. And Harry, being six, didn't know why these freaky things happened. When they did (and he hoped that they would stop happening) he would get locked in his cupboard without food and being able to use the bathroom for the rest of the day, sometimes part of the next too. If there was anything strange or wrong, he would be blamed for it. Something wasn't working? It must be the freaks' fault. A shipment went missing or was broken at work? The freak must have done something to me. When the freaky things got bad, sometimes Vernon would slap him around, and if they got really bad, he would take out his belt and whip him a few times.

The reason Harry was with the Dursleys was because he was Petunia's sister's son and it was the only place for him to go. Harry had learned this when he asked, and Petunia gleefully told him that his parents were drunks and died in a car crash, which was how he got his lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He thought that his scar was his defining feature. Now it was just a reminder.

He never knew what his parents were like, and didn't even know their names or what they looked like. The only dreams he had were of a flash of green light, and another one of a flying motorcycle. He hated the first one because it made him feel sad, like something was missing. And there was a lot of anger that went along with it.

Back to the present, it was Halloween day in 1986, and all around Surry, people were putting out Halloween decorations. Pumpkins were being carved, spider webs were hug outside, costumes were getting ready, and most importantly, candy was flowing like water in the stores. For the Dursleys, they didn't have any decorations up, deciding that the holiday was much too 'unnatural' and was too much like 'those freaks', whoever 'those freaks' were. From the brief glances Harry got when he looked out the window he thought that the decorations were interesting, but got smacked if he stared too long and told to work on something. At school that day, they had a costume contest and somebody with a nice ghoul costume won, much to Dudley's displeasure with his American Cowboy costume.

School was still a new experience for Harry because he was actually _allowed_ to learn things, and could get away from most of the Dursleys for at least a few hours. However it wasn't completely fun because the Dursleys told the teacher that he was a troublemaker and told her not to help him at all. The first day was terrible because when the teacher asked for his name he replied 'Freak'. The class got a laugh and the teacher looked suspicious before saying that his name was Harry Potter. That resulted in a phone call home and a few belt lashes. However, Harry repeated it to himself every time he went to bed, to remind himself that his parents did give him a name before they died in a drunken car crash.

Harry spent a lot of time in the small library that their primary school had for two reasons; Dudley seemed to get sick when he was around books, and Harry liked to read. After the school realized he needed glasses, his Aunt and Uncle grudgingly took him to get some, simply pointing to a bin of cheap glasses and saying "find one that works", and he could finally read without holding books a few inches from his face. He and the librarian became what Harry considered to be almost friends. However it's been only a few months, so Harry knew it wouldn't last before the Dursleys got to the librarian too.

Harry was drawn back to the present when Dudley started another tantrum about not wining the costume contest. Harry was surprised that they even got Dudley in the costume since it was about a size too small (and it was the largest they had in the store) and he ripped the vest in the back when he flexed his arms about halfway through the day. Obviously Harry didn't have a costume, so he went as normal in Dudley's oversized cast offs.

"Mum, I should have won!" Dudley bawled sitting on the floor. Petunia was hovering over him, (s)mothering him in affection.

"It's all right Darling, I'm sure they just made a mistake," Petunia comforted her son. "It's probably because your vest ripped."

 _And here it comes,_ Harry thought to himself, preparing.

"It was the Freak's fault!" Dudley blamed Harry. "He probably used his freaky powers and caused me to lose!"

 _And there it is._ Petunia looked up and saw Harry cleaning a chair, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "It that true boy?"

Harry rolled his eyes and turned around. "No Aunt Petunia. Dudley put his arms forward and ripped the vest," he replied in a dull monotone. Any sort of snark in his voice and he'd be punished.

"That's a lie!" Dudley yelled and tried to lunge forward, ripping the vest even more with his outstretched arms, but Petunia held him back.

"Boy, go to your cupboard _now_!" She screeched, understanding that Dudley was just upset... and she saw him rip the vest even more just then.

Harry sighed, ignoring Dudley's satisfied smirk, and put down his rag and went to the small door under the stairs and got in, but not before grabbing a milk chocolate bar that was lying around, one of the many in the house. Frankly, it was a surprise that there was any candy left in the house with Dudley there. Less than a minute later, the bolt lock over the cupboard was clicked shut, signifying that Petunia locked him in there.

He could hear the two outside moving around and talking. Dudley was still 'upset' but after a while calmed down, probably eating three full sized chocolate bars to keep his mouth occupied. Harry was left in the dim light of the overhanging bulb for a relatively short time, absentmindedly nibbling on his own bar for only a few hours this time before the latch slid back and Petunia face was there again.

"Alright, no freaky business. We're putting up decorations so go up to the attic and get them out."

Harry blinked before his mind caught up with his ears. "We're putting up decorations?" He repeated. _Why?_ That was the unspoken question, but he learned to not ask questions and just do what he's told to avoid punishment.

Petunia sniffed, "No, _you're_ putting up the decorations. Dudders wanted to show the neighbors that we're… more festive than they are about this day." She sounded really reluctant to go on, probably because of the holiday, but she couldn't deny her little Duddykins. "Anyway, head up to the attic and get the decorations out."

Harry paled. "Th-the attic?" He stuttered, finally realizing where she wanted him to go.

"Yes, now go!" Petunia said as she grabbed Harry and drugged him out of the closet, shoving him up the stairs.

Harry walked up the stairs as if he were going to his death. The attic was worse than his cupboard. Full of broken junk and forgotten things, he had only been up there once before and it had scared him. The Dursleys had only brought him down when he started making too much of a racket crying when he became stuck after Dudley kicked the ladder over and broke something -blaming it on Harry, who else? It had been much darker than his cupboard because the lights had burned out apparently due to his freakiness. They had to re-wire the whole attic and that cost him his meals for a week, plus cooking all theirs for that same week.

Harry went to the end of the hall and moved the wall ladder over to the trap door, then climbed up. He pushed it open with a menacing creek and fumbled around for the light switch. Two lights flickered on, causing the shadows to become distorted, as if they were trying to reclaim their places. Harry shivered and walked/crawled to a pile of boxes, hoping to find one that had 'Halloween' or something written on it. The sounds from outside and downstairs were oddly muted, as if someone covered his ears with foam, or dunked his head in water, of which he unfortunately knew the feeling.

All the boxes he checked didn't have anything Halloween related. Old magazines, books, cups and such were mainly what he found, aside from the virtual city of spiders and their webs in a box he found, which he screamed at when they jumped out and scattered when he opened it. He vigorously wiped his hands from the webs that were on them, whimpering slightly.

Harry sighed, which came out closer to another whimper and moved to a new pile. _No luck here either, just broken things,_ he thought as he finished looking in the last box of the pile. He looked around and shivered. _Are the shadows getting darker?_ He was startled when he thought he heard a rattling from the corner and his heart rate shot up and his breath hitched. Several seconds, or it might have been minutes, passed before Harry started to move again.

He started towards the sound, not daring to turn his back in case something was creeping up on him. He could feel the warm air causing sweat to form on his face. His heartbeat was making a rapid thumping in his chest. A sudden breeze of cold air on his neck caused him to shout in fear and turn to see what caused it. It was only the attic vent outside, letting in a gust of cold air. _Please, please let me find something soon,_ he pleaded in his mind.

He looked to his left and noticed an old trunk that had three locks lined up vertically. Harry was instantly curious as it looked out of place for something that the Dursleys would have. _It's too old and an-…an…_ antique _for their tastes,_ Harry thought, struggling over the word in his mind. He came closer and saw a bronze key tied to a handle. There were the letters 'L.J.P' put on the metal of the trunk.

He took the key and untied it, and put it in the top lock and twisted. He felt a tingling in his arm before the top lid popped open. Harry carefully opened it up. Inside there were numerous journals, papers, and books and on top of all that, a piece of parchment. He picked it up since it looked like it needed to be read, wondering whom this belonged too, since this was so un-Dursley like it was incredible.

He started reading, unable to stop his curiosity, trying to comprehend as much as his vocabulary and his knowledge could.

 _31st July 1981_

 _To my son, Harry:_

 _You're one year old now… I don't know when, or even if, you'll find this trunk, but I hope it's sooner rather than later, if at all. I left this here in the hopes that you will find it and make your life a little easier to understand._

 _If you're reading this, then your father and I have died and you're now in my sister's household, which is where I_ _never_ _wanted you to be raised. Tuney and I haven't seen eye-to-eye in years and she doesn't want anything to do with me after our last fight and she got married. I plan on sneaking into her house one night and place this trunk here for you to find and added a modified 'notice-me-not' charm so only you would see it._

 _If nobody has told you, ask yourself this; have you ever felt or done something strange? Like make something float or cause inexplicable things to happen? No it's not the Force from the Star Wars movies; it's honest to God magic. You, my son, are a wizard, and a powerful one at that. You're a year old now and your accidental magic has already turned James' hair an ugly combination of green and red and summoned Prongs, your stuffed stag, to you in your crib when you dropped him (I don't know why it's called 'accidental' magic when you want it to happen). You are a wizard, and I hope I get the chance to see you grow up to become a great one… but since you're reading this, that won't ever happen. _

_I'm writing this and collecting things in this trunk because if the way things are going continues, then we're all likely to end up dead before the dark wanker kicks it, excuse my language. There's a war going on in the Wizarding world Harry between two sides, 'light' and 'dark'. I want to say that it's more 'good' versus 'evil', but there are always many shades of grey, even in this war. It's a war of ideology, with blood-purists on one side, those that oppose them on the other, and the rest (majority) hiding until someone wins. I'll summarize the main parts._

 _The person we're fighting is named Lord Voldemort, who is as evil as they come. He's killed and tortured men, women, wizard, witch, and muggle (non-magical people) for sport and fun, and wants to rule everything. The Ministry of Magic is as effective as ever (that was sarcasm Harry) and we suspect Death Eaters (Voldemort's followers) have infiltrated it. The person who is currently spearheading the opposition is Albus Dumbledore, and while he says he's doing something, I'm beginning- no; I have growing doubts about his leadership and overall goals. Those doubts are the reasons why I have this trunk wherever you are. _

_If my guesses are correct (and I hope to Merlin they're not), then you're being raised in my sister's house, which is explicitly against our wills, and are completely ignorant of magic. This is designed to counteract that if that's the case. Dumbledore was a witness to our will, and unless something's happened to him and everybody else on our list, it's being ignored. I'll include a copy in the trunk eventually. If not, then go to Gringotts bank and request to see the Potter Vault Manager Steelfang. He'll guide you through most of what you need to know. Just… be polite to the goblins._

 _Anyway, I've been working on a special project of trying to make memory crystals, sort of like a portable pensive, that would show you some moments of our lives, but it's far from done as they keep changing into something else entirely. I'll experiment more, but for now I'll keep making handwritten notes and books._

 _I've copied some of my school journals and added a textbook or two (it'll probably be more than that) so you can learn about magic when you get the chance. This trunk has three levels and is 'bigger on the inside', to quote a favorite T.V show of mine. This top one is what you can see and will hold my journals and diaries, the second one is deeper and holds the textbooks and my school notes, and a few valuables, and the third will have those memory crystals, or whatever happens to end up there. You need to close and lock the level you have open before opening a new one. The way this works? "Magic." Okay, I'll leave the bad jokes to your father and Sirius._

 _Going back to the present, or mine anyway, I'm hurrying to get things down in the time that I have left. Voldemort is trying to hunt us down because of some stupid prophesy he heard, which is as follows:_

"The one to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…"

 _Now, I don't put a lot of stock in prophesies as they are vague and have multiple meanings, but this one seems especially like absolute rubbish (not to mention incomplete). However, Voldemort seems to believe that you are the one the prophesy refers to. The other person it may refer to is my and your father's godson, Neville Longbottom; someone you should know later in life. Voldemort is coming for us though, which is leading me to scouring the Potter library for ways to protect you. I suppose if you're reading this then I have succeeded in protecting you._

 _Another thing is that Dumbledore is the one that told us about the prophesy, and he too believes it. He's made many questionable decisions over the years and I think, and that's a big stretch now, think that Dumbledore means well, but he has lost sight of the 'little people' and uses them as pawns in a game only he sees and understands. There are a few other things I have to check as well about him…_

 _I only wish that I could watch you grow up… This is strange, like I'm writing my death-warrant for someone who's you, but not you at the same time. I don't want to bother James with this as he's dealing with other issues. And I want to enjoy the time I have left… Merlin I'm being morbid. Stop it Lily._

 _Anyway, I want you to know that your father and I love you very much, and won't stop loving you even in death. I plan on leaving the trunk here sometime in August after your first birthday. I hope that you discover what you can do and I have helped you in some manner._

 _With all my love_

 _-Lily J Potter_

Harry closed his eyes as tears trickled down. _My mom's name is Lily. My dad's James. They loved me. I finally know their names._ _They weren't drunks; they were magicians, a witch and wizard. They fought in a war against a bad wizard. I'm a wizard!_ Harry found new life in him as everything started making sense. All the things he's done were because he had magic!

He put the parchment back and locked the top lid, the opened the second middle one. He gasped as he saw a number of different books where the other books used to be. He could put his whole arm inside, and probably himself if he wanted to, if it were empty. _'Bigger on the inside' huh?_ There were many interesting titles and plenty of journals in this one and Harry vowed to read all of them. Once he could anyway.

He locked that one and opened the third lock. He blinked in surprise. There were three crystals there separated by foam. Two, the left and right ones, were white on top that gradually transitioned to a tie-dye color scheme on the bottom, and the third in the middle was like the inverse, starting with the tie-dye, working its way to white. There was another note there that Harry started reading.

 _17th October 1981_

 _I can't wait any longer. The war is escalating with no end in sight and more people are dying, sometimes for stupid reasons. Tonight is when I'm leaving the trunk in my sister's house. I finished my crystal project (at least_ something's _going right) but they aren't memory crystals or anything of that sort. They seem to be magical conduits and containers that can make certain effects when magically charged, mainly the elements. I caused a small fire with a red crystal I made with ground rubies from the Potter vault magically heated by a tiny bit of Fiendfyre (DON'T EVER USE THIS SPELL WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION HARRY!). These are the ones I put in here by taking gems of the right colors and grinding them into dust then infusing them with raw magic and then crystalizing them again into what you see. Unfortunately I can't seem to get some of them to work, but I'll put those in anyway with a few others. _

_I have to go; Dumbledore's just come in through the floo. I don't trust him any more. There's more in my journals that I've included here._

 _I hope you'll never read this my son._

 _-LJP_

Harry fought back the tears to look inside the trunk. He could see where the other crystals would have gone, but they were blank. _She must have not put them in,_ he realized. He looked down and put his hand on the lid to keep it from falling on him, then picked up the far left crystal.

As soon as he had a grasp on the crystal, he felt a cold wind on his neck and the crystal started glowing, leaving Harry in awe at the light. Then it became painful when it got too bright and didn't seem to stop. Harry felt himself vibrating and then there was a rushing sound past his ears.

The bright light winked out. The trunk was gone and in its place was a boy that looked like Harry. He blinked wondering why he was kneeling, and started looking for Halloween decorations again by his Aunt's orders.

While this boy would look, think, and act like Harry Potter for years later, it wasn't exactly him. Magic works in strange ways, and it will protect those that can use it. This substitute that took the place of Harry Potter would remain, living the life that the real Harry Potter would have, except for two differences: he didn't have the lightning bolt scar, and most importantly, this being didn't have magic.

As for the real Harry Potter…

Well, this was the beginning of a new story for him in a world of new solutions…

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In another plane of existence a translucent figure looked down at the fake boy that took the place of the real one, returning her hand from the boy's neck. The figure, a woman with long hair, smiled sadly as the boy started wandering around the attic before looking at the spot where the trunk was. _Your journey has just begun my son. And I hope that you'll find the strength needed for what will come… In yourself and others…_

The figure shifted, then was blown away by an unseen wind and disappeared.

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 **Just to clarify, the copyHarry in Privet Drive is going to live like Harry would have in the books, just without magic. The real Harry was sent to Remnant. How this will work out I'll get to that in a later chapter.**

 **Anyway, please Read, Review, Favorite, and Follow (R.R.F.F)! Flames will be doused and ignored.**

 **Till next time**

 **-OrangeGalen**


	3. A New Torch Lit

**Hello everybody! Thank you for everybody that reviewed, favorited, and followed, which is a lot of you! I don't have much to say, but one important thing...**

 **I first wanted to have Harry paired with Yang, but as more and more people voted and the story developed in my head, that changed. Harry will be officially paired with _Ruby!_ Sorry to everyone that wanted differently, but it's the way the story will develop...**

 **Okay, that's over with. Onto the story!**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, which an anime web series, and Harry Potter, which is a book series, both owned by different people who are not me.**

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 **Last Edit: 10/22/17**

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Yang panted, nearly spent, as she walked and stumbled her way through the bleak woods. It was getting later on in the day, or at least she thought it was; the clouds were covering the sun, making everything darker and dreary. The barren trees didn't help the atmosphere as they loomed over the path that she was taking, causing darker shadows to form in the distance. The dirt and mud squelched beneath her feet, dried tracks of wheels and footsteps showed that the path had been used, but was abandoned now for years. Puddles from the recent rain were still there, making the ground soft and muddy. All in all a fitting atmosphere for what today was.

Yang tripped over her feet with a surprised cry and fell, causing a small splatter of dirt and mud to splatter around. She slowly pushed herself up and brushed off her clothes a bit, and then continued walking, struggling to pull the red wagon with her sister bundled up in it behind her. She had been walking for hours and Ruby had fallen asleep, too young to stay awake for long, exhausted from the journey, and Yang was hoping there was a time and place for her to follow her sister's example when they got to where she was headed.

 _We're almost there Rubes, just a bit further,_ Yang said in her mind, a repeating mantra that had been going on for a while now. _Soon we'll have a mom again. And then maybe I'll get some answers._ She had been planning this trip for days. Ever since she found a picture of her mom (and dad in it) with an address on the back after weeks of questions and searching, she'd been getting things ready. A few snacks, bottled water put into a wagon, the picture, and a dot on a map to find out where she was going was all she had.

It was a long journey to the place she was going. Patch was a large island off the coast of Vale, about 5,000 square miles give or take. However only about a quarter of it was inhabited by humans and Faunus, the rest was wilderness or worse populated with the Grimm. Where Yang was going to was where a small village was located (at least on the map), and then to the outskirts of said village. Yang had hoped to get there and back before her dad Taiyang Xiao Long, or anybody really, noticed she was gone. He was still sad, or depressed -Yang thought was the better word- about Summer's death, who was Ruby's birth mom, and the maternal figure for both young girls. It was the second time his wife had left him, and it hit him hard this time because Summer had no chance of coming back.

 _My mom, however,_ will _be coming back, even if I have to drag her back with me_ , Yang vowed, ignoring the fact she was exhausted. _And then I'll ask her why she left in the first place._ She could feel a burning in her chest at the thought but concentrated on the road again, the torch being fueled by her emotions, her determination.

A few hours ago she had put the things in the wagon and went over to Ruby, who was playing with her plushy Beowolf. "Hey Rubes," Yang said to get her attention.

"Ya?" Ruby looked up with those innocent silver eyes that she got from Summer, brushing a few strands of black hair with red tips out of her face; something else that she got from Summer.

"You want to go somewhere for your birthday?" Yang asked.

"Whare?" Ruby asked, tilting her five-year-old head as she looked at her older sister, a slight lisp from her young voice.

"I'm going to find mom, want to come with?" Yang asked, giving a little white lie about _whose_ mom she was going to find.

"Okey-doke!" Ruby stood up and grabbed her older sister's offered hand and they set off, with Ruby getting in the wagon. Yang bitter-sweetly smiled at Ruby's innocence but said nothing.

That had been several hours ago and they were almost there. About an hour ago Ruby had fallen asleep and was blissfully unaware of their surroundings. Yang, however, was hyper-aware even with her aching muscles fogging and slowing her mind.

She brushed one of her pigtails over her shoulder and glanced around. The trees seemed to be looming over the path and faint rustling could be heard farther off in the forest. More doubt started to seep into her mind; that this wasn't a good idea, that there would be now answers in the end. But she had come too far now. She had to find out what happened to her mom.

 _I don't even know what her name is. Dad's never talked about her except in passing. Probably because she left and broke his heart before Summer put it back together. And now he's hurting even more. We need her. I_ need _to know why she left._ Yang continued walking, glancing around to make sure she was still on the path and that nothing was coming up at them.

A few minutes, or it might have been an hour later, Yang rounded a bend and saw her destination. To her growing disbelief, she hurried closer to make sure that the fading light wasn't playing tricks on her eyes, but it got worse the closer she did get. The house was made mostly out of wood and at one point had windows. But the glass was broken and ground into shards, and the wooden planks that made up the walls were falling out, molded and rotted away. There may have been a second story, but it had partially collapsed on itself due to rot and weather. There may have also been a front lawn, but it had been either overgrown or poisoned since it looked as wild as the forest.

 _This… this isn't it,_ Yang thought desperately. _This_ can't _be it. Nobody can be here. Nobody can live here._ Yang checked the map and the picture again, and they both pointed to this place as the spot. _No. No, this is… this_ can't _be. I was so close. I was so close!_ A single tear rolled out of her eye, devastation flowing through her, sapping what was left of her strength.

Suddenly she could see movement inside the ruined doorway. She stilled as she felt uneasy, as if a dark fog settled over her mind. Then a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness under the arch. Then another, then a third. Then there was growling; a dark, hungry growl that animals have when they are on the hunt.

The growl of the Beowolf.

Yang let the map and picture slide out of her nerveless hands as she stared at her approaching certain death. Then with a sudden horrifying thought, she realized, _No, not just mine; Ruby's as well._ Yang dragged her out there with her and they were both helpless. They were seven and five years old; they couldn't outrun even the youngest Beowolf. And Yang couldn't move at all. All her energy, her motivation, had drained out of her and vanished like smoke in the wind upon the revelation that her journey was hopeless, pointless even. What hope did a seven year old have against a monster whose sole purpose was to wipe mankind off the face of Remnant? Her inner fire had died.

 _Oh Oum, I'm sorry Ruby,_ Yang thought despairingly as the Beowolves crept closer. _What a birthday present..._

One growled again and that was the signal for the three to attack. Yang couldn't even react as she just watched them leap at the two of them. Another tear came out of her eye.

Suddenly there was a rustle of movement from behind her and then a blur jumped in front. There was a shwing-slash sound, then six separate thumps hitting the ground. Yang watched as the three Beowolves split in half diagonally and the two parts fell to the ground.

There was a caw from a crow somewhere that broke Yang out of her stupor. She looked up and saw a man with black and grey hair that was styled backwards wearing a tattered dark red cloak. He had on a suit jacket that was light grey with black collars rolled up slightly, and black pants and shoes. He was holding a large, segmented scythe that was as tall as he was, silver metal catching the last of the daylight. He turned around and looked at Yang with dark grey eyes. He had a slightly oval face that was chiseled out slightly, looking like the heroic ancient statues from the old Kingdoms, just with a bit more stubble.

"Are you all right?" The man asked, his voice a light, slightly raspy tenor. Yang could only nod as her brain realized who her salvation was.

Uncle Qrow.

Unlike like how Ruby is her half sister, Qrow was the brother of her birth mother. Like her father, Qrow fell into a depression when his sister vanished, and then again when Summer died since they were good friends, but he seemed to be taking it a little better. But it didn't explain why he was here right then.

Qrow seemed to understand that Yang was still in shock and continued talking. "I came after you when Taiyang found you two missing from home. I followed you based on your tracks." He glanced around. "I want to scold you for your idiotic lapse of judgment, but this isn't the place for it. Let's get you kiddos back home." He collapsed his scythe back into a sword, which then folded in half for better storage and placed it on his back. He then went over and picked up Yang who recovered enough to wrap her arms around him as much as she could. Qrow shifted so he was holding Yang in one arm and went to pick up the wagon handle.

Ruby shifted inside the wagon and opened her silver eyes, then yawned and blinked sleepily. She focused on Qrow and a smile crossed her face. "Hiya Uncle Qwow!"

The older man looked down at his niece and gave a smirk. "Hey there Pipsqueak. Ready to go back home?"

Ruby blinked and looked around, seeing the scenery for the first time. She shivered, looking at the ominous trees, but then her gaze reached the house. "What's in dere?" She pointed.

"Nothing," Qrow said softly, "just bad memories and ghosts." He started wheeling the wagon away, still holding Yang.

"Did ya look?"

That question stopped Qrow in his tracks. "Why would I look? It's abandoned, probably has been for years." Yang flinched in his arm, still trying to understand her utter failure and brush with disaster. Qrow tightened his grip comfortingly around her.

"But dere might be something inside," Ruby said.

"Anything in there has probably been looted or destroyed. Let's go back home."

"Pleeze? Look? Iz my birfday," Ruby begged.

Yang was confused as to why Ruby was so insistent about the house _. It's an empty shell. There's nothing for us here._ "Rubes, there's nothing here," Yang said, her voice weak.

At that moment there was a loud crash from inside the abandoned house…

And a child's yelp of surprise and pain.

Ruby gave a grin. "Told ya."

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As soon as he had a grasp on the crystal, it started glowing, leaving Harry in awe at the light, then it became painful when it got too bright. Harry felt himself vibrating and there was a rushing sound. Then it felt as if he was being spun around in one of those spinney things the doctors use on the telly.

Then it stopped and he felt himself land heavily on the floor with a reflexive moan.

Harry tried to make his head stop spinning but didn't have time as a louder _crack_ came from right next to him, then an ominous creaking sound was heard and he suddenly felt himself falling -old, rotten wooden planks breaking underneath the abruptly added on weight. He fell a few feet and cried out when he landed, a shock running up his backside then another when his head connected with the ground, driving the breath out of him. Splinters and planks rained down and stuck in him in the legs and arms, causing bleeding cuts and adding a few more scars to his collection. Something landed on his glasses and caused them to crack. The trunk that came with him barely missed his head, causing some of his unruly hair to get trapped underneath it.

He laid on his back, trying to get air into his lungs and tears silently coming out of his eyes. _What just happened? Where am I? What did that crystal do? Did I ruin the attic? Uncle Vernon's goin' to kill me this time._ He couldn't see clearly as his broken glasses were distorting his vision. All he could see was shades of black and odd shapes, like he was still in the attic.

As Harry was gasping for breath, he could hear footsteps running towards him and movement as things were being moved. "Oh Monty," he heard a man say. Pieces of wood and other things were being moved off of him, including the trunk. Hands were touching him and Harry tried to push the man away. His brain had started fuzzing up with all of the things that happened and he saw Vernon pawing at him.

"I'm sorry Uncle Vernon, I'll get back to work," Harry wheezed out. "Plzzz don't huuurt me…"

"Shhh, calm down. You hit your head and partially concussed. Try to not move around."

"Wha'?" _That's too nice to sound like Vernon._ Harry blinked and tried to focus. He could barely see the features of a man through his cracked glasses, but he could tell that he wasn't Vernon since he didn't have his round shape. "Who are-?" Harry cut off as his head spun and fought down the urge to hurl.

"Yeah, definitely concussed," the man muttered. There was a tearing sound and Harry felt something wrap around his head somewhat tightly. "Don't move around. I'll get you out of here." Two hands came under him and lifted him up, being careful around his head to keep it from moving. Harry's glasses fell off but the man didn't stop. He was being carried out and the man said loudly, "Ruby, could you get out of the wagon for a moment?"

"Okay. Whoes dat?" A young girl's voice was heard.

"He was inside the house. He's hurt, so don't bother him a lot. He needs to be in the wagon."

"Okay, I'd be happy to share." Harry tried to see who was talking and all he saw was a small, red and black blur. He shifted his gaze and saw another yellow and brown blur sitting on the ground.

"Don't move," the person holding him said firmly and Harry did as the man said. Harry could feel himself being placed on a wooden platform as the hands moved away. "Ruby, make sure his head doesn't rock around a lot and make sure he stays awake." Someone, _Ruby I guess,_ moved next to him and Harry felt his head being held.

"Don't move," Ruby said seriously, "Uncle Qwow said not to."

Harry smirked at the voice but really couldn't do anything else. A sudden jerk made him come back to the present as the wagon started to move, a wheel squeaking as it turned. Two hands were constantly held against his head and Harry lost track of time as the wagon continued its journey. Occasionally the man and another young girl, the yellow and brown blur hanging off of the man, would exchange a few words, with Ruby chiming in on occasion. Harry would only focus occasionally, but Ruby was keeping him awake by chatting away. It was amazing to Harry that Ruby could keep talking for that long, but she did. There was also a faint smell, but Harry couldn't recognize or focus on it.

After a time, the trees started thinning out and they got closer to civilization. He could vaguely hear the sound of cars and city noises. Harry looked around and saw a bunch of buildings around that were houses, but ones that looked more inviting than the Dursley's house. _Where are we going? Where are these people taking me? Are they taking me back to the Dursleys? No, they can't! I don't want to go back._

Harry started to shake, trying to escape, panicking again, but Ruby's hands stilled him. "Hey, don't worry. You will be fine. We're going to help you! You can meet my dad and… oh yea, you can get those boo-boos cleaned. Mom used to do that, but she's not around no more. Me and Yang were out today trying to find her, cuz it'z my birf- _birth_ day, but we found you instead! Oh, can we be friends after your boo-boos are better? I'd… I'd like that," Ruby ended softly.

Harry calmed down and had a smile as he listened to Ruby talk, her innocent demeanor making Harry calmer. He blinked and looked off to the side, knowing now that they were not going to the Dursleys.

As Harry looked on, he had to blink in disbelief. _That… man had a tail. Am I seeing things now, or is that just a Halloween costume?_ A person had walked past them and had a tail. Harry almost believed it was a good costume until the tail waved around like a dog's. To realistic to be fake. _Is that person a wizard? Do these people use magic?_

The wagon stilled and Ruby jumped out, bringing Harry back to the present. "Hang on a moment kiddos, I need to call your dad," the man said. After getting verbal okays, he pulled something out and started talking to someone. Harry started going in and out of it so he missed the conversation. _I'm tired. I think I'll go to sleep now…_ He closed his eyes, but was jerked awake when the man sharply said something to him.

"Hey! Don't fall asleep on us! Ya hear?"

Fear shot through Harry's body and he mumbled, "Yes Sir…"

"You need to stay awake for your health. If you fall asleep you might never wake up again." _That might not be too bad…_ Harry thought to himself, tempted to close his eyes anyway.

The red and black girl got back in the wagon and held his head again. "You hear dat? Stay awake!" Harry had to grin again at her… everything.

"Alright," he mumbled and tried to keep his eyes open. It was terribly hard though.

They spent some time there, waiting for something until there was a car that pulled up, then somebody shouted in a deep tenor, "Yang! Ruby!" Harry looked and saw a big man with yellow hair, or at least what he made out of the blur since he was missing his glasses.

"Daddy!" Ruby called out while the smaller yellow blur ran to the man, who picked her up in a hug.

"Where did you two go? I had to get Qrow to go after you! Do you know how worried I was?" The man said, scolding the two girls while holding the figure.

"Taiyang," Qrow said, the first man that rescued him spoke up, "maybe you can discipline Yang later, but we found an injured boy and he needs to go to the hospital."

There was silence, then the other man agreed. "Okay. All of you get in the car. And you two," he said to Ruby and the other girl, "I'm not going to let you out of my sight for a while. You're in trouble Yang, but we'll wait until later to talk about this."

Harry heard the girl mumble something and then the red left his vision just before he felt the entire wagon get picked up and moved. Then the slam of doors and the starting of a car ignition. He was still in the wagon, and he could hear Ruby and the other girl talking softly. He had a feeling that things were changing for him, for the better.

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 **Don't worry, if it felt as if I've forgotten something, I have a plan... trust me.**

 **Anyway, R.R.F.F.!**

 **Till next time, I'm going to get some sleep now. It's 12:10 right now...**

 **-OrangeGalen**


	4. My name is Harry Potter

**Hey everybody, I'm back! Let me just say that this story has skyrocketed in the favorite/follows of RWBY/HP crossovers. And I haven't even _done_ that much! How? This is now my most favorited story on FFN strangely enough. Oh well, you guys like it, so I'm writing!**

 **Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

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 **Disclaimer: Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place where there are no copyright infringements for me trying to work with two awesome worlds. Sadly this is the only place I can do that.**

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 **Rejected chapter titles: Hospital Visiting.**

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 **Lat Edit #2- 6/2/16: Small changes in events and wording along with basic clean up.**

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Taiyang Xiao Long was confused and stressed, which probably wasn't a good combination for the vast majority of the people on Remnant, and not a good condition for a Hunter to have on a mission. Being confused meant that you didn't fully understand what was happening at the moment, or for him, the entire day, and didn't know how to react to events as they happened. In addition, being stressed added on to the problem of being confused by clouding his judgment even further, potentially making him choose bad decisions in a rash moment.

However, he wasn't a hunter that graduated from the top hunter school on Remnant because he lost his head the moment things got tough. He managed to somehow get his team, STRQ, through many a sticky situation they got into by sheer tenacity; which could be considered by most as stubbornness and a desire to blow his way through many obstacles, which he could do with the use of Dragon's Roar, his weapon.

But like any good father, when the stress and confusion were caused by his two young daughters, it's understandable when rational thoughts tend to roll over and play dead.

He came home hours ago to find a house vacant of any humans as his two girls were gone. At first he wasn't concerned as they often went out for a few minutes to play in the woods and he trusted Yang, his firecracker, to look after Ruby, his little rose. It was a little odd that they didn't bring Zwei with them however. That was his first hint something was wrong when the young corgi puppy came bounding from the hallway alone without the telltale patter of two young feet following behind.

But maybe they left the dog behind because of all the scary costumes today. As the minutes turned into an hour though, Taiyang went looking for where they went in their room, since the two slept together. There were signs of a hasty packing, as evidenced by the packaged store-bought food that looked like it was dropped, and when he checked in the garage, he found the wagon that they often used was gone as well. He searched around, looking for any further clues as to where they might have gone.

When he did, he paled. There was a broken and empty picture frame from a dresser that should have been forgotten about, which was supposed to have a picture with an address Taiyang never wanted to visit. After he saw this, he knew that Yang had prepared to go to that place. _She probably took Ruby with her. Yang wouldn't leave her behind for something like this_ , he reasoned _._ He knew that he would be too far behind to save his girls so he did the one thing that he could, called his brother-in-law.

Qrow Branwen was closer to where Yang was headed and Taiyang gave him directions so he could get there in time. After the scroll call, he spent the next few hours pacing waiting for anything, a scroll call or something, until Qrow called him to tell him to come to the main city on Patch and that he had his girls. He immediately got in the car and drove to the place Qrow said they were.

The familiar red and yellow colors of his girls and the dusty cloak Qrow wore were unmistakable as he came closer and he got out to make sure they were okay. Taiyang was relieved that they were safe along with another wide range of emotions centered around disappointment and anger about Yang putting their lives at risk on a fool's errand.

But his initial scolding was put on hold when Qrow pointed out an additional person, a young boy with black messy hair that definitely looked like he needed medical attention. There were cuts all over his face and arms, his clothes were torn, and he was looking around blankly with his emerald green eyes, signifying some sort of head wound. Taiyang was no doctor or medic, that was Qrow's job as he got the highest grade in battlefield medicine for their team with Summer second, so he wasn't sure. _They must have found him when they were coming back,_ he thought to himself as they moved him inside the car.

Once everybody got into the car Taiyang started it up and headed to the hospital. He noticed how Ruby seemed to be chatty with the boy (even though it was mainly a one-sided conversation) after she had talked with Yang a bit and gave a little smile. Ruby was still young and really didn't know the enormity of what had occurred. She was the epitome of childish innocence that Taiyang would brutally kill anyone who would ruin that. Possibly with a bit of dragon fire or by sticking Dragon's Roar down their throats and pulling the trigger. Anyway…

Yang was sullen and quiet now, the opposite of her normal outgoing personality, sitting mostly quietly in the back and only talking softly if she had something to say, holding onto the scarf that Summer had given her on her fifth birthday. Taiyang felt guilty as he now only in retrospect noticed how he had been affecting his family with his attitude. Granted Summer had died close to a year ago, but with two little girls to take care of, he shouldn't have been so distant from them and instead ought to have comforted them and taken solace with them. Ruby was too young to understand, but Yang wasn't.

Hence why she went to find her own mother.

There was a gap that needed to be filled and Taiyang reasoned that Yang wanted her birth mother to fill that gap.

 _But there was a reason she left,_ he thought to himself as he drove down the roads, pushing the speed limit and probably breaking a few laws around a couple of turns. _She was never mother material. She was like the clouds, there one moment, then blown away to another place the next, except it was from her own wind. Or perhaps like shadows, gone when the sun came up. She never wanted to be tied down to a place and had her... unique view of the world. It was a miracle she got through all four years of Beacon and stuck around for as long as she did._

Taiyang glanced over to the shotgun seat and saw that Qrow was leaning against the window, not making conversation and staying quiet. His brother-in-law wasn't a quiet person, quite the opposite when he got excited and was known to be a bit of a loud-mouth when agitated, or a smartass when drunk; it was just he had the bad habit of retreating into his thoughts and blanking out. It was really annoying when you were trying to have a conversation with the guy and he does that, but more often than not one was laughing with something he said. However in this case, nobody was trying to talk to him and he was sitting, looking out at the streets passing by. _All that he needs now is a flask in his hand to complete the picture._

Taiyang glanced into the rear-view window and said, "Ruby, how is he doing? Is he still awake?" The black and red haired girl looked up at his call.

"Yeap," Ruby chirped. "He seems fine. I wish I knew his name though."

"We can find out when we get to the hospital. They'll probably have records where we can contact his parents." Taiyang reasoned.

At this the boy groaned and tried to move up but Ruby gently grabbed his head and held him still, "Hey, don't move. You need to be fixeded up and have your owies get better." That actually got a very small chuckle out of the boy this time. It was weak, but it showed that he was aware at least of what was going on which was a good sign.

They soon pulled into the emergency parking of the Patch Hospital and Taiyang quickly gathered up the boy in his arms. _He seems really light, almost as light as Ruby. But he looks older than her and should be heavier,_ he thought slightly concerned. The extended family got out of the car and Qrow held the door open, letting Taiyang rush in.

"We need help!" He shouted at large to the people in the building. There were only a couple of people there, and they all turned to look at the bellowing man that had burst in. Then they saw the small boy in his arms.

A pair of ER workers rushed over with an emergency rolling bed and quickly gathered the boy onto the bed. "Don't worry Sir," one of them said, a deer Faunus to be precise, "we'll take care of him. Just wait here."

Taiyang was about to protest but a steady hand clasping on his shoulder from Qrow stopped him. "Let us know how he is," he said calmly.

"We will. There'll be paperwork to fill out later," the man said. Taiyang groaned, causing Ruby to giggle, also causing the Faunus to grin a little bit. "Agreed." He then turned and with the other ER workers wheeled the boy further into the building.

"Where are dey taking him?" Ruby asked.

"They're going to make him better," Yang answered, the loudest she's been since she's returned.

"He's goin' to be better after dat?"

"Yes, he will. Then maybe he'll tell us his name." Yang said.

"I'd like to know that!" Ruby exclaimed again.

"So would I; and I would also like to know why he was all the way out in the middle of no-where," Qrow said, "and why he was inside… that house." Qrow finished in an odd tone, as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. Yang sagged, but Taiyang gripped her shoulder and hugged her close to her.

"After he's lucid and awake," he added, then looked down at his firstborn and crouched so they were eye level, lilac eyes to lilac eyes. "Yang, I want you to know that I'm severely disappointed in you." Yang hung her head. "You took off without telling anyone and went to a place that had been suffering Grimm attacks when you are too young to deal with anything remotely that dangerous, and on top of that, you put your younger sister in danger. It was reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous…

"But I'm not mad," he said to the girl, causing her to look up in surprise. "I understand now all too late what you and Ruby were going through. I should have been more caring, supportive to both of you instead of pulling away." He caught Ruby and Yang in a surprise hug. "You've both lost mothers; Yang, you twice. And I've lost both wives. But we still have each other. And I wasn't around enough for both of you. I'm sorry."

Yang took all of this in silence, then returned the hug. "It's okay daddy. I'm sorry to. I just wanted all of us to be a family again…"

"And we will," Taiyang vowed. "We will become a family again. Even dusty Uncle Qrow over there," he added, causing the two girls to giggle and the man to huff in faux irritation.

"Just don't expect me to join in on every group hug," Qrow said, the effect ruined by the small smirk on his face.

The three of them suddenly got a mischievous look and on a silent command all pounced on the man, Taiyang grabbing him around the chest, with Yang and Ruby each grabbing a leg. "Not a chance Branwen!" Taiyang mocked.

Qrow laughed and the two girls giggled, holding on tighter. "Oh woe is me," he deadpanned, the attempted seriousness completely ruined by the growing grin on his face; even more so when his arms attempted to wrap around everyone. The few other people in the waiting room had various smiles on their faces as well from the scene playing out, considering they could hear almost every word that was spoken.

After a while they pried themselves off of the man and then took four seats that were next to each other. "Now lets see how long before we get news on the boy," Taiyang said.

"Yes, he seemed to be in a serious condition," Qrow said, "but I'm not sure all of it was because of his fall."

"Fall?" That's the first I've heard of that.

"He fell through the second floor ceiling in the house apparently. I think he took shelter in there because he seemed too light, as if he hadn't had any food for a while."

"Was he living in there?"

Qrow was silent, showing that he was thinking hard about something. "No." He finally said. "There were Beowolves inside and they wouldn't have let him be in there unharmed. The stairs _may_ have collapsed, preventing them from getting at him, but that doesn't explain how he got all the way out there in the first place."

"Sounds like we have a mystery on our hands!" Yang interjected.

"Detective Ruby, on the job!" Ruby said standing up and puffing out her chest proudly.

Taiyang chuckled and ruffled Ruby's hair, causing the girl to pout. "How about you leave this one to your old man? I want to solve one every once in a while."

Ruby scrunched her face in thought before nodding, "Okey-doke."

Qrow had a smirk before he turned serious again. "I think there is something we're missing though. He was deep inside the Grimm infested house, which shouldn't have been possible, but furthermore he believed he was at his Uncle's house and needed to go back to work."

"His Uncle?"

Qrow shrugged and kept silent for a moment. "He seems small and light for his age," he commented, a harsh undertone in his voice.

Taiyang frowned, not liking the mental picture being painted. "We'll see what the doctors have to say."

* * *

An hour later, both Ruby and Yang had fallen asleep in their chairs, exhausted from the day's events, while Taiyang and Qrow were trying to find something to do other than read the magazines again for the third time. It was at this moment when a human doctor with purple hair with black streaks in it came over to them with a scroll in hand. "Excuse me? Are you the one that brought the young boy with black hair in earlier?" He asked.

"Yes, that's us. I'm Taiyang Xiao Long. What's the verdict on him?" Taiyang asked.

"Well, the boy's completely stable, so there's nothing life threatening to worry about, and could be released by Sunday at the latest. However, we need to know his name."

"We don't know, he wasn't able to tell us," Taiyang answered.

"Where exactly did you find him?"

"My brother-in-law, Qrow Branwen," said man waved from behind Taiyang "found him on the outskirts of The Rim in an abandoned house. After getting him back to civilization, we drove straight here. Are there any records of him anywhere, any parents or guardians we should notify?"

"That's the strange thing. There's nothing on him," the doctor said. Taiyang glanced at the man's nametag and it said 'O'Malley F. DuFresne'. _Wow, that's a mouthful of a name,_ he thought to himself, then what the man said suddenly registered. "No identification, no fingerprints, and the blood samples are still being analyzed but I wouldn't bet on anything on that front.

"So he may be from the Nomads?" Qrow asked. The Nomads were a collective term for the people that lived further out from the major cities than was deemed acceptable for safety. They moved away from the kingdoms capitals for various reasons and tried to live on their own, starting villages by themselves. However those kinds of settlements rarely lasted, four out of five disappearing before their first year. Despite the terrible survival ratio, there was always at most a hundred-odd new people that moved out to try their luck elsewhere every year.

"It's possible," O'Malley admitted, "considering they don't keep records more often than not. We'll have to wait for him to wake up to tell us these things."

"Yeah, he didn't look so hot when we came in. What was wrong with him?" Unnoticed by Taiyang, Qrow rolled his eyes at his tone and bluntness.

"He had a moderate concussion which we've mostly treated, but he'll have headaches for a few days after. The surface cuts and bruises were easy to heal…" The man trailed off.

"But there's more," Qrow stated, causing both the doctor and Taiyang to look at him.

"Yes… there are various scars on his back that vary in time when they were received, and looked deliberately made. Add to that several bones that have not healed properly and the worsening malnourishment he's showing and you can see the picture of his home life."

The room seemed to heat up as Taiyang grew angrier. _Who… how dare someone treat a person that way. Treat a_ child _that way! It's not right! **They should burn in fire!**_

A sudden hand on his shoulder broke his thoughts and turned to see that Qrow had stood up and was staring intently at him. "I know you're angry, I am too, but there's no reason for you to go all dragon and breathing fire here."

Taiyang nodded and closed his eyes, taking a deep calming breath. It wouldn't do for him to lose control over his Semblance again. He let the air puff out of his lungs and felt a small tendril of smoke come out. He looked at the doctor and gave a rueful smile. "Sorry 'bout that."

To the man's credit, it only took a couple of blinks for him to get over that. "That's fine. I've seen stranger Semblances than that. Am I correct to assume both of you are Hunters?" He asked.

"Yep," Qrow said. Taiyang nodded, but thought to himself, _the only remaining members of STRQ actually…_

"Well that's a bit more of a relief. At least there are some sensible people around." Qrow and Taiyang snorted loudly and then glared at each other. The doctor sighed, "Some." He shook himself; "Anyway, I have something further, about his Aura." That got the attention of the squabbling men.

"His Aura's already unlocked?" Qrow assumed.

The doctor shook his head, "No, or at least, not fully. It's confusing," he continued, seeing the strange looks he was getting, "His Aura and Semblance are the strangest I've ever seen. His Aura's healthy, if still mostly locked and will probably stay that way until someone does the Soul Release ritual. The few scans I've run show that it's tied in with what I'm assuming his Semblance is, which is active; but it's also separate, like having a water tap with an additional spout."

"So he's activated his Semblance?" Taiyang asked.

The doctor sighed. "No, or, somewhat. It seems that his Semblance is still developing, much like Aura reserves, and while it _is_ active, it's just not very strong. His Semblance and Aura, from what I can tell, are like two separate water tanks constantly refilling and expanding as he gets older and I believe he'll have the choice of using one to supplement the other once he has training, like a valve that can put water into the other tank and vice versa. The curious thing is that his Semblance tank is being drained _as_ it's being filled."

"What?" Taiyang said, lost.

"I don't completely understand either. It's like his Semblance has some sort of cap on it, preventing it from filling up past a certain point, but there's something else draining it as well… a second Aura."

"What?" He repeated.

"It's like he has a second Aura latched onto him that's draining his Semblance's tank rather than his Aura reserves. The thing is located inside a peculiarly shaped scar on his forehead and we can't and/or won't remove it without knowing what it'll do to him. It will have to stay for now. His Aura's completely fine and doesn't have any caps on it besides it being locked. It's all focused on his Semblance."

"So let me get this straight. This boy has probably been abused at home and found his way to _that_ house we found him in. His Aura and Semblance are two different water tanks that he will eventually be able to draw on, neither fully unlocked but his Semblance tank has a cap put on it plus something draining it. That it?"

"In essence," the doctor said. "However, the draining-to-filling ratio is higher for the filling part, so he shouldn't suffer any major issues with that."

"So what do we do now?" Qrow asked.

"Well, since we have no idea who he is, we'll have to wait for him to wake up for us to know. If he is being abused, we'll have to go through another series of hoops with child services and the police."

"We're Hunters, we can handle most of that," Qrow said.

"That's fine, in fact that helps cut a few corners." The doctor showed them something on the scroll he had. "Once he's awake and if he agrees, you can take custody of his release from the hospital. Otherwise we'll have to appoint someone without his say-so since he's a minor."

Taiyang glanced over at his sleeping daughters, starting with Ruby. _She seems to like him, even though they don't even know each other._ He looked over at the golden locks of Yang. _And Yang wants someone to fill the void left behind. Why not a quasi-brother? It's not what she was looking for… but…_

"I'll sign," he said. "My daughters seemed to like him, even though he really couldn't talk back."

"Probably because of that reason," Qrow quipped.

"Shut it."

"Very well." The doctor handed the scroll over to Taiyang with a stylus. Taiyang signed his name and handed it back to him. "I'll fill in the boy's name once he tells us and then file it."

"Alright, thanks Doc." Taiyang said, clasping the man on the shoulder then asked, "Is there anything else?"

The man winced when Taiyang's rough hands landed on him. "Medically, there isn't much more we can do. That Aura/Semblance draining thing is entwined with the boy's own, so we can't remove it. But his body injuries and malnutrition we can start to fix with certain vitamins and diet regimes, and just regular treatment.

"Okay then, we'll be waiting… uh, is there by any chance something else we could read?" Taiyang asked.

"The main hospital lobby should have some real books," the doctor suggested.

"Thanks!" Taiyang took his seat again and watched as Qrow sped off, presumably to get those books. Taiyang leaned back in his chair and blew out some air. "What a Halloween this is."

* * *

The first sound he heard as he slowly came too was a constant beeping. Not the sound Uncle Vernon's alarm made when it turned on, but a constant beep with spaces in-between. He felt different clothes on him and a semi-soft mattress under him, and the air was fresher than inside his cupboard. He cracked open his eyes and blurrily saw a room that had various equipment in it. _Is this… a hospital?_

Harry tried to remember what happened today, but the pounding in his head made it hard to concentrate. _I was… in the attic. Halloween decorations. I found… my mum's trunk! She's a witch! My dad was a wizard! I'm a wizard! There were those crystals and a bright flash. I fell? There was a man, and another man, and two girls. Red and yellow. They took me somewhere… here? Hospital? Where am I?_

As if on cue, a man with purple hair with black streaks in it came through the door with some sort of thing in his hand. Harry was surprised when the man pulled it apart and a glowing image appeared in the middle. The man only looked at it for a moment before he looked up and saw that Harry was awake. "Ah, glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like my head is being used as a drum," Harry replied.

"Understandable. You've had a minor concussion, plus other accumulated injuries."

"Accu-mu-lated?" Harry asked about the word.

"Injuries you've collected," the man explained. "The people that brought you in found you inside an abandoned house and apparently you fell through the ceiling. That and the other injuries you've gotten."

Harry frowned, wondering what the man meant before he put two and two together, hearing the doctor's sympathetic tone. He pulled the sheet up to his chin. "I don't want to go back. I'm not going back!"

"Whoa, calm down there. You are most definitely not going back to where you were living. Whoever did this to you will be facing several charges and spend many years in jail. Well, that is, if you can tell us your name; then we have a starting point."

 _The Dursleys… going to jail? I'll never have to see them again. Never live with them again!_ Harry sat straighter and looked the man in his dark brown eyes. "My name is Harry Potter. My mum's name was Lily Potter, and my dad's was James Potter."

The man smiled and typed some stuff on the screen he had. "Well then, I'll go and get started. Do you feel well enough for some visitors? The family that brought you in is waiting for news of how you're doing."

Harry considered this for all of two seconds before he nodded. "I'd like that."

"I'll send them in in a moment. First off I need to run a few more tests, then start the search, then bring them in."

"Sounds fine to me," Harry said.

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 **This was a good place to end it for me, next time we'll have the Xiao Long/Rose family meet the remaining Potter, and something will get started which will change all their lives.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will stick around for more!**

 **Till next time!**

 **R.R.F.F. (Read. Review. Favorite. Follow.)**

 **-OrangeGalen**


	5. So Magic's real apparently

**Hello everybody! I'm back! Sorry it took a while, since College started back up again. I've been squeezing it in here and there. But somehow this story's managed to get over 300 Favorites and 420 (JBLZ) Followers. Wow. Just, wow. That's more than 3x the amount on my next highest.**

 **So in-between updates, Rooster Teeth snuck out a release date for RWBY Volume 3 in the newest World of Remnant clip. And then the opening animation sequence... [ _insert manly fan squealing here]_ Shit's gonna hit the fan this volume, I'm betting on it. **

**Now that that's over with, here's the chapter.**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor RWBY. If I did, I wouldn't leave plot holes big enough to drive the train from "No Breaks" through... sideways (looking at you JK), and Volume 1 would have longer episodes.**

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 **Last Edit- 6/2/16: Small changes, like making the house a single story.**

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Of course, in a moment meant after another half an hour of being poked and scanned for every known thing about him. Harry was asked many questions; his name, his birthday, his parent's names, how much he ate (and when he replied 'only as much as freaks deserve' he was asked exactly what he ate and how often), where he slept, his home life, and what his relatives were like were only a few of the many questions asked. He didn't answer a lot of those questions except with the barest minimum, and sometimes not even responding. Eventually he just kept saying 'I'm fine', hoping that they would stop asking questions. Then he had another blood sample taken, which hurt a tiny bit, and the doctors changed the Band-Aids on his legs and back.

At that point Harry had enough and started protesting against his treatment. He knew they meant well, but he was in a strange place that he had never seen before (and still can't because he didn't have his glasses) with strange people, two of which apparently had animal ears or tails, asking him questions constantly, shining lights in his eyes, endlessly going in and out of the room around him, and he was tired and mentally drained from everything that had happened so far.

It was little wonder why he started to become overwhelmed and his freakishness- his magic- started slipping out.

Harry was about to either cry or become comatose. He was feeling more trapped than ever before. Not even being stuck inside his cupboard in the dark made him feel this. It was like the first day of chaotic school with everybody bustling around without a care of other dropped off (more like kicked out of the car) children, specifically Harry.

As it was, his magic decided to do the talking.

A doctor was about to poke another needle in Harry's arm when Harry jerked the appendage away and cried "No!" The doctor moved away but now was sporting bright neon pink freckles all over his face. It was only after one of the other people in the room snorted and started laughing did Harry realize what happened.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Harry cried out in terror, his rational thoughts flying away due to the conditioning that he received. Every time something unnatural and freaky happened, they would blame it on him, even if it wasn't his fault. No food for a day or two, extra chores, and, if it was a bad day, a beating with Vernon's belt. Harry curled in on himself. "I'm sorry Uncle Vernon, I won't do it again!"

A light bulb overhead suddenly surged and broke, ending whatever jocularity the doctors had. "Alright, everybody out!" A voice commanded and they all quickly exited, leaving Harry with the first doctor that had purple hair. Slowly, after all the sensations passed and the fog cleared, Harry uncurled himself and saw the doctor sitting in a chair across the room. "I'm incredibly sorry. I didn't fully take into account how much trauma you've had and I accept full responsibility."

"I-it's okay," Harry stammered, slightly confused. "I didn't mean to be a waste of space."

The doctor made some sort of facial movement Harry couldn't see and said, "You are _not_ a waste of space. It's our job to take care of you and you needed it. Now, do you want to meet the people that brought you in? I think you've waited long enough."

Harry nodded meekly, "Sure." He remembered the red girl talking to him and two yellow haired people, but that was about it of them.

"I'll be back in a minute." The doctor said and left, leaving Harry alone for the first time in what felt like a while.

* * *

"Excuse me?" O'Malley said to the quartet sitting in the waiting room. The two girls were asleep, Ruby curled up on a chair almost like a cat and Yang sprawled out in another, a tiny bit of drool coming out of her mouth. Qrow was leaning back with his eyes closed, leaving Taiyang as the only one to see his approach.

"What's up Doc?" Taiyang asked.

"The boy you brought in is awake and is wanting to meet you... properly this time. You can go in, but don't crowd him. I think his Semblance acted up earlier when the other doctors were checking him so give him some space."

"Alright then, we'll be right there. Just need to wake up the girls," Taiyang said, nudging Qrow.

Qrow blinked open an eye. "I heard that," he said.

"And I wasn't referring to you, but since you responded I may need to rethink some things about you," Taiyang said with a cheeky grin, then dodged a swipe from Qrow, chuckling.

"Idiot." Qrow mumbled then got up and stretched.

"Your idiot."

"Don't make it sound like we're married, _idiot_."

"Yeah… that could be taken so many ways… Anyway, why do you keep saying idiot like that?"

Qrow looked at him like he was stupid (many have done so in the past, including his wife), "Because your daughters are in hearing range and it's the nicest thing I can say about you right now?"

"Good point." Taiyang went over to Ruby and Yang and gently shook their shoulders. "Yang, Ruby? Hey, wake up kiddos, the boy you saved is awake now. He wants to meet you two."

Yang was the first awake, jolting a bit upon awareness then looked at her dad. "Wha? Oh!" She said understanding what he said. "Hey Rubes wake up!"

"Huh?" The red cloaked girl lifted up her head and yawned, blinking her silver eyes to focus them.

"He's awake! Let's go see him!" Yang said, already going down the hallway, Qrow keeping up with her.

Silver eyes shot open all the way. "Wait, Yang! I wanna' be first!" Ruby then shot after her sister as fast as she could go, leaving Taiyang amused at his girls' antics.

 _I just hope that boy is healed enough for those two,_ he thought as he followed his remaining family, not glimpsing the trio of red rose petals on the ground from where Ruby was. When he turned the corner, the petals seemingly evaporated into nothing.

* * *

Harry was sitting on the bed squinting, trying to see. It was mildly annoying since he couldn't see anything clearly a little past his hospital bed. _I wish I had my glasses right now, as bad as they are-were. I think they're lost by now. And I don't know if I will be allowed to get new ones. Maybe if I ask, or do some of the chores around here. But this is a hospital, they have people to do that. So what should I do?_

Harry was startled from his increasingly desperate thoughts when the door nearly slammed open, and then a yellow and a red blur came in. Two people, two girls. "Ha, I made it first!" The yellow one said in triumph.

"Bah!" The red one exclaimed in disappointment. She seemed to get over it quickly enough though and proceeded to climb onto his bed without a second thought. And then got almost in his face. "Hiya!"

Harry blinked. She was close enough that he could see her face and what she was wearing. She had a black skirt and she was wearing a red and black vest jacket. The last thing was the red cape/cloak she wore which was bundled up at the top.

Her face was round and she looked a tad younger than he did. She had dark hair with the tips a dark red. The most remarkable thing was her silver eyes.

"Umm… hello?" Harry said awkwardly, staring into her eyes.

"I'm Ruby! What's your name?" She held out her hand. Harry slowly took it.

"I'm Harry," he said.

"Well I know you are since it covers your head," the yellow and brown girl said. "What's your _name_ ," she stressed.

"But… that is my name." Harry whispered starting to re-curl on himself.

"Nuh-uh, don't do dat," Ruby said and grabbed his hand again, holding it tight. "I think Yang means how do you sp-sp-spiel it."

"Spell it," the other girl corrected.

"Yeah!"

"Oh, uh, it's H-A-R-R-Y," he said, completely disarmed by these two.

"Well then Harry, it's nice to meet you when you're lucid," came a voice. All of them turned and Harry could just make out a man that was wearing different shades of grey with a dark red cloak, at least on the inside. "I'm Qrow Branwen, the one that got you out of that dump. I see you've already met my nieces Ruby and Yang."

"Y-yes S-Sir," Harry nerviously stuttered out. The last time he met someone's niece, Vernon told their family something and he was promptly shut out of the house and forbidden from seeing the girl again. _I wonder if he's going to do the same…_

Qrow waved it off. "None of that 'Sir' stuff, even the 'Mr.' I get at school is pushing it."

"Yeah, because you're still a pre-teen in mind," another voice broke in. A taller man with a mane of yellow hair squeezed his way in past Qrow. "I'm Taiyang Xiao Long, the father of these two little devils."

"Hey, we're not that bad," the yellow-brown girl, Yang, said. There was a moment of silence before she added, "Mostly."

"Anyway," the man, Taiyang said, "how are you feeling Harry?"

"I'm fine," Harry automatically responded.

" _Riiiight_ ," Qrow drawled. "Because falling through the ceiling of a decrepit house and getting a concussion is fine," he said sarcastically. He was ignored.

"Harry," Taiyang started, "you've been in here for a couple of hours and I can tell that you're not fine. And why are you squinting?" He asked.

Harry mistook that as a demand-question. "I'm sorry Sir. My eyes are bad because I'm a fr-" he cut himself off. _No, I'm a wizard. Not a freak. That's what Uncle Vernon keeps telling me. My… my mum said otherwise. I'm not a freak._

"Harry?" Harry looked up to see Ruby looking at him. "What were you goin' to say?"

"N-nothing," Harry pitifully deflected.

"Harry, we can infer a little about your… previous home life, and a little on how they treated you."

"What do you mean?" Yang said, a frown presumably present on her face.

"Is it all right if I tell them what we know?" Taiyang asked Harry. Harry looked down in shame but shrugged. _Not like I can say no…_ "Harry here wasn't liked by his family and-"

"Wait," Harry interrupted with internal effort, wanting to correct him. "I… My parents are dead and they were wizards, and I was living with my re-rel-reltives-" he stumbled over the word.

"Relatives?" Qrow offered and Harry nodded.

"My Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, with their son Dudley."

Ruby giggled. "That's a silly name."

Despite himself Harry gave a small grin as well. "Not as bad as the pet names Aunt Petunia gave him." Ruby giggled a littler harder and Yang joined in as well.

"What do you mean by wizards? Did they have something like telekinesis as a Semblance?" Qrow asked, suddenly intense.

"Telewha?"

"They can move things with their mind." Qrow simplified.

"Oh. I don't know," Harry said truthfully. "I don't remember them."

"I'm sorry," Taiyang said. "So, I guess your relatives didn't want to keep care of you then, huh?" He inquired.

"N-no Sir. They often said they would send me to an or-uhh, place where they kept-err, other freaks."

"Freaks?" He seemed in thought. "Are you a Faunus?"

Harry blinked. "A what?"

"Somebody that has animal traits." At Harry's still confused look, he said, "Somebody that has animal ears or a tail."

 _Oh, so I wasn't seeing things then,_ Harry thought. "People actually have dog tails?"

"Yep," Yang said.

"They're cute!"~ Ruby gushed. "I wish I had wolf ears!"

"Your ears are cute as they are," Harry said before he realized he opened his mouth. There was a momentary silence and Harry felt like his face was going to catch on fire and he hid under the blankets. Or tried to since Ruby was sitting on his bed.

Ruby beamed as said, "Thank you!" Yang covered her mouth to stop from laughing. Qrow could be heard from behind the door as he stepped out for a moment to get his guffaws under control. Taiyang was torn between amusement and irrational fatherly suspicion that someone was trying to seduce his daughter before his rational mind retook control (he was about Yang's age, too young for things like that) and he smiled.

"So then, you're not a Faunus then. Were your relatives one of those people who think those who've unlocked their Aura and Semblance are unnatural?" Taiyang asked.

"Huh? What's a Aura and Se-se…" Harry tried to say, but was confused, as he never heard those terms before.

"Aura is the manifestation of one's soul," Taiyang explained, "and can be used in a variety of ways. A Semblance is a power that is unique to a person."

"Oh! Maybe them being wizards was their Semblance!" Yang said.

"I… don't know," he said truthfully. "I think my parents were wizards, but my Aunt and Uncle weren't."

"Speaking of your Aunt and Uncle," Taiyang said, "can you tell us what their last names are and where they live?"

"Uhh, Number 4 Privet Drive. And they are the Dursleys," Harry said.

Ruby giggled, "Another silly name!"

"Alright, we'll get to looking for them after you've recovered a bit more," Qrow said. "However, do you remember how you got into the house that we found you in?"

"W-well, I found a trunk that was from my mum and she left a letter that said I'm a wizard. I couldn't read half of it, but inside were these crystals. When I touched one everything got bright and then I fell." Harry explained.

"Sounds like a special type of Dust crystal," Taiyang muttered.

Qrow frowned, "Was this trunk with you after you touched the crystal?"

Harry thought hard, but his memory was still fuzzy. "I-I don't know. Maybe? Why?"

"I vaguely recall seeing a trunk with you in the wreckage. Do you want it back?"

"Yes!" Harry immediately responded, then ducked his head. "S-sorry Sir."

"Don't apologize, and please don't call me Sir." Qrow almost pleaded.

"Y-yes S-… okay." Harry corrected.

"Alright. If you'll excuse me, I have a trunk to find." Qrow exited out of the room. Harry looked worriedly after him.

"Don't worry, he's going to start the investigation into your relatives and find your trunk," Taiyang said.

Harry nodded absentmindedly. "So I won't be going back to the Dursleys?" He asked quietly.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Taiyang rumbled. "You'll be staying with us for the time being until things are sorted out."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered.

"This outta' be fun," Yang commented.

"But first you need to make a full recovery… and maybe get you some new glasses," he said, seeing how Harry was still squinting a bit.

"I'd… I'd like that," Harry rasped out, trying to keep the tears of happiness from slipping out. He was startled when Ruby leaned forward and gave him a quick hug.

"Yay! You'll be coming home with us! I can't wait to show you awound."

"Aren't you forgetting something, or someone?" Yang asked lightly, cocking her hip.

"You can tag along too!"

"How nice of you since I live in the same house as you do," Yang said dryly.

"I know right?" There was a moment before Ruby started giggling, and then Yang started as well. Taiyang looked like he had a smile growing on his face. Harry couldn't help but feel… something, he couldn't describe what he felt. _Is… is this what a family is supposed to be like? Happy-… truly happy?_

 _I wonder if I'll ever have that…_

* * *

Harry however wasn't allowed to go with them that day as the doctors wanted to make sure he was in good health. His concussion and most of the cuts he had were gone, the cuts leaving only a few faint scars. The doctors were talking about weird things: even Harry knew that dust wasn't something you used in medicine and was something you swept up. Despite that, they also got new glasses for him and Harry could now see clearer than he ever had previously. Taiyang, Ruby, and Yang came to visit every day for the three days that he was hospitalized. At the end of the third, they came in once more.

"So Harry, you ready to go home?" Yang asked after they all greeted each other.

"H-home?" Harry questioned. "But I thought- the Dursleys-" _I don't want to go back._

"They're being taken care of right now," Taiyang said, cutting off Harry's growing panic. "What we mean is that right now I'm your temporary guardian until a more permanent blah da blah blah blah, lawyer speech. Basically, my house is your house," Taiyang abbreviated.

"I'm going to stay with you?" Harry dared to hope.

"Yeap!" Ruby chirped. "Daddy had to get out the cot until we can get you a bed."

"You're staying in the guest room!" Yang added.

"So Harry, ready to get out of here? It must have been boring to count the ceiling tiles a dozen times a day," Taiyang said.

 _It was better than sitting in the darkness of my cupboard,_ Harry thought to himself. He nodded in response.

"Alright, let me go find that doctor and then you'll be outta here," Taiyang walked out, leaving the three children together.

"Oh this is gonna' be fun! We are goin' to have a great time!" Ruby squealed.

Harry quickly went into the toilet and changed into some new clothes that actually fit him! Granted they were cheap quality as the doctors couldn't accurately get him, but it was better than the Dursley's had 'given' him. It was just a basic white t-shirt and jeans, with some new socks, shoes and underwear. Afterwards the purple-haired doctor came back and after Taiyang signed some things, was given a folder and the four of them piled into the car. Harry awkwardly sat in-between Ruby and Yang since their father didn't want them in the front, trying to be as small as possible.

After several minutes of strangely awkward silence, they pulled up to a modest one-story house in the woods. Harry immediately became wary but relaxed slightly once he got a second look. _No, this definitely isn't the Dursley's house. It's more friendly than theirs ever will._

"We're home!" Ruby said and bolted out of the car. Yang followed as well and Harry got out more reservedly. He froze as he heard excited barking from inside, flashbacks to when his other Aunt, Marge, with her dog Ripper stayed over.

Taiyang noticed Harry's sudden stop and turned around. "What's the matter?" He asked.

"Nothing," Harry immediately replied.

"It's not nothing. Please, tell me." Taiyang said, putting his hands on Harry's shoulders and looking him in the eye

Harry sighed. "Dogs."

Taiyang blinked. "You don't like dogs?"

"I had… bad time with…" Harry mumbled.

"Shhh, it's okay. That's in the past. And Zwei's only a puppy, so he may be a little eager but probably just wants to be your friend. How about we go inside and see where you'll be staying for the foreseeable future?" Taiyang guided Harry inside the house.

Immediately there was a happy ball of fur that attacked Harry's feet, yipping away. "Zwei!" Ruby shot around a corner and grabbed the puppy. She looked up at Harry's shocked face and smiled sheepishly. "Heh heh, sorry."

"It-it's okay," Harry said once he got over his shock and took a second look at the puppy. It was nothing like Marge's dogs and way cuter. Ruby hefted up the puppy and it took the opportunity to lick Harry's nose. Harry couldn't help himself and he laughed at the puppies' action.

"Not so bad is he?" Taiyang chuckled. "C'mon. I'm sure you're hungry. Let me get something cooking."

"No no, I'll do it," Harry hastily interjected, but then realized he needed to rationalize his outburst. "Ahh, it's the least I can do. I can cook and clean for you! I'll earn my keep."

"Harry," Taiyang's voice cut through Harry's rambling. " _I'm_ taking care of _you_. You don't have to do anything. This isn't your Aunt and Uncle's house Harry. You don't need to earn your keep and I will never hit you or starve you for something you did. Granted I may need to discipline you from time to tome, but never out of malice. Do you understand?"

Truthfully, Harry didn't, or at least not fully. But he got the gist of it. _I… don't need to work in order to stay with them? But… won't I just be taking up space?_ "Y-yes Sir," Harry said.

"Not the 'sir' thing again Harry. If you must, Mr. Xiao Long, but I prefer if you'd call me by my first name."

"O-okay…" Harry muttered.

Ruby in the meantime was flipping back and forth between the two of them, Zwei mimicking her head movements. Once Harry agreed, Ruby put down Zwei and then grabbed Harry's hand. "C'mon, I wanna' show you your room!" She tugged Harry down the hall. He barely had time to look around before Ruby opened a door and they stepped inside.

The room wasn't that large, but it had room in it for additional things. Right then it had a cot with a mattress, blankets, and a pillow on it. There was a mirrored closet on the left side of the room, and there were several boxes in piles off to the side of the floors, leaving a clear path to the cot and closet. A small dresser was next to the cot that had a lamp on it. And in front of that was his mum's trunk.

The best comparison Harry could think of was if Dudley's second bedroom was cleaned up. It was better than anything Harry ever had.

"Is… is this for me?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

"Yeap," Ruby chirped.

"It's not exactly clean yet," Yang popped up behind them, "but dad was working on it since we knew you were coming home."

Harry couldn't take it anymore and he started crying silently, trying to not shake. He started when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. "Hey, why you crying? You don't like it?" Ruby asked, her silver eyes meeting emerald green.

"No, it's… No one's ever done something this nice to me before," Harry got out.

"Then we'll have to make sure there are more things like this in the future," Yang said, wrapping her own arms around him.

Harry tried to mimic them and hug both of them back. _This is the first hug I have ever gotten, or can remember._ Harry held on tighter and let his tears run freely, cleansing tears. They didn't notice that a warm, gentle breeze seemed to blow through the room, a byproduct of Harry's emotional state. They were content just to hug each other.

It was the first of many steps to his recovery.

* * *

Taiyang looked after Ruby and Harry, his daughter dragging him down the hall to his new room. _He's a good kid, but obviously has issues. Things that were drilled into him by those relatives of his. Disgusting._ Taiyang took a quick breath to calm down.

"Polite, but shy, isn't he?"

"Gah! Qrow! You gotta stop doing that!" Taiyang growled as he turned around, seeing the smirking man in the doorway to the living room.

"Why? It's fun." Qrow said. He dropped the smile though and beckoned Taiyang into the room. "I found his trunk in… that house, and brought it back. It's… incredible," Qrow said in awe. "Somehow, it looks like a single storage trunk, but… you can open up another lock and the contents change. There's half a library in there in two of the sections." He shook his head and got back on track. "Anyway, I looked through some of the stuff and…"

"What?" Taiyang prodded.

"I don't know. The journals from his mother talk about people and places I've never heard of. England? Europe? I don't know what to think except this sounds like a bad time-travel sci-fi movie."

"What about his relatives? Parents? Anything turn up in the police search?" Taiyang asked.

Qrow shook his head. "Nothing. The street Harry mentioned doesn't exist in any of the four kingdoms, nor does both his relatives and family. I found his birth certificate in the trunk, but that's the only legal proof we have he exists. And once again, it's certified by unknown people and governments. Get this though; where his parents are from, they have a Ministry of Magic. Apparently he _is_ a wizard, like his parents." Taiyang missed the flash of something in Qrow's face.

"Now this is turning into fantasy," Taiyang commented. "So… now what?"

"Why are you asking me? He's your ward now: you make the decisions. But if you want my opinion, I'd say let him stay, or hell, adopt him even since he doesn't have a family. Set up an identity for him. He's not from here… not this world anyway."

"Aaaand now it's going back to sci-fi." Taiyang mulled over their conversation, then touched back on a point. "You said that there was a library in two of the trunk's sections? That sorta implies there's more."

Qrow shrugged in agreement. "Only one more. Get this… there were two special Dust crystals in there, and what looked like a third had been used quite recently."

"They have Dust wherever Harry's from?"

"Not from what I read. His mother synthetically made them with common gems and magic, trying to make something else. My guess is that those crystals allow for… a person to travel from Harry's world to this one."

"You sound unsure," Taiyang pointed out.

"I'm not about to test it," Qrow declared. "We both know what can happen. Besides, if it _is_ inter-world travel…"

Taiyang realized the sort of power one could have with this kind of Dust. "It should be kept secret, only us should know."

"Indeed."

The conversation stopped when they heard the patter of feet coming closer and saw Yang and Ruby on either side of Harry supportively. Harry looked like he had been crying. "So Harry, how's your room? Is it okay?" Qrow asked.

Harry nodded and sniffed. "Y-yes. It's…" he glanced at Ruby and looked up again, a light smile on his face. "It's more than okay. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome Harry. Now why don't the three of you play around a bit while I get us something to eat. Qrow, are you stay-… why am I asking? Of course you are." Qrow gave another cheeky smile.

A little while later, the five of them were sitting at the kitchen table, eating away. Harry was a little hesitant to sit down and eat, but eventually was coaxed into doing so. Taiyang made sure Harry ate everything and kept the peace with his two daughters. Qrow left after the free meal like he normally does and Taiyang ordered the kids to bed, after assuring Harry that he could clean by himself. Once the dishwasher was going, Taiyang went and tucked in Ruby and Yang, then went to Harry's new room.

He opened the door and saw Harry sitting on the bed looking out the window. "You alright Harry?" Taiyang asked, making Harry jump slightly.

"Oh, yes! I'm fine." Harry said once he got over the shock.

"Well then, I'm here to make sure everything's good for you. Please, let me know if you need anything. I'll be in o-my room across the hall." _It's been a year and I still refer to it as our room…_ "Don't hesitate to wake me if you need me."

"Alright," Harry nodded. Taiyang crossed the room and drew the boy into a hug. He stiffened slightly but relaxed after a moment into the hug.

"Goodnight Harry, sweet dreams." Taiyang said as he pulled back and left.

"Goodnight," Harry replied. Taiyang turned off the lights and closed the door.

Taiyang went to his room and after his nightly rituals, crawled into his own bed. _What a day. What a_ week. _Taking care of Harry's going to be a chore… but worth it in the end. He seems to be fitting well, and the girls like him. Almost like he's part of the family already…_

Questions and wonderings going through his mind, Taiyang Xiao Long eventually fell asleep.

For the first time in ages, everyone in the house had a restful sleep.

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 **So I don't have much left to say. Once again, re-read the previous chapters if you want to stay updated, otherwise yeah, I'm done. It's before midnight this time, so I'm good.**

 **Remember to R.R.F.F (Read. Review. Favorite. Follow.)**

 **-OrangeGalen**


	6. Welcome to the family Little Bro

**Hi! _*Dodges various things thrown at me*_ I'm back again. Honestly I didn't want to be gone this long, but stuff happened and I hit a wall that looked like this chapter. However I just kept shoving until it fell down. So after a two month hiatus, this is back! **

**In other news I've updated the cover for this. Whaaaat? I finally got a halfway-decent drawing program and fixed Harry's lightning bolt so it's green now, like I wanted it to be in the first place.**  
 **Also, I've thought of a shipping name for RubyxHarry. How do you feel about MagicPetals? If you have a different idea, let me know in a review. **

**Speaking of reviews, many have been asking about what Harry will have for a weapon. As a little bit of a teaser, it will use Dust somewhat like Myrtenaster and one form will be a quarterstaff. (Notice how I say _one_ form). That's all your getting. Further for his Semblance, I'm sticking with his magic as a semblance. But just like semblances, no two magic user's are alike as they can/can't do certain things. This will also apply to Harry in the future.  
Also for a ****review guest pie in your face: There's a rule for good stories that for every boost a hero gets, the villain gets one as well. Food for thought about how Harry's time in Hoggywoggywarts will be more interesting. **

**One final note. Mother of god, episode 7 of RWBY. The show just keeps getting better and better**

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 **Disclaimer: I want to be strong. I want to be feared. But from the copyrights and ownerships that the two big minds have I get a massive headache.**

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 **Last Edit- 6/2/16: Changes plus new scene at the end.**

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* * *

Harry woke up with something nagging on his mind. As he slowly came to awareness, the first thing he felt was warm. Which was strange since even though he had been in the hospital (with an actual bed!) he had always felt a slight chill. Not like some of the winter nights in his cupboard at Privet Drive where he never got any sleep since he was shivering so hard, but enough to be uncomfortable. But now he actually was comfy, with a nice blanket around him, and a pillow!

He yawned and blinked open his eyes. His room was still dark, but not impossible to see in, as if the sun was starting to rise. Harry rolled over and saw that the curtains for his window were still closed and sighed, closing his eyes again. _Why can't I fall asleep again,_ he wondered. _I still feel tired, but not much. Do I need to do something?_

His green eyes shot open. "Breakfast!" He exclaimed. _I need to make breakfast!_ He tried to stand up to go to the kitchen, but forgot that he was on an actual bed, or a cot rather, and wasn't as close to the floor as he was used to. However, he promptly got reacquainted with it as he fell over, overbalanced. _Owwww…_

Taking his time, he got up slower and readjusted his new glasses on his face. Then he realized another thing: he was wearing pj's. He blinked. _When did I get these? Oh, wait, last night. I found them in the closet. I should get dressed quickly before they get up. I don't want to make a bad im-imression on them._ Harry took a look inside the closet and found a pair of dark jeans and a variety of t-shirts that fit him better than Dudley's ever would. He picked out a simple grey one that had some sort of multi-colored sparkly stars on it in a twirling design. There were also socks that didn't have holes in them or were too lose. He wiggled his toes in them, enjoying the feeling of something that actually kept his feet warm. But then he realized he was being distracted and quickly exited out of his room.

His room. _My room. That sounds funny. I never thought that I would have an actual room to call my own. I just had the cupboard under the stairs as where I slept. And now I actually have a real room all to myself! That is, if I can keep it,_ Harry sobered up, suddenly sad and worried. _I don't know how long they'll let me stay before I get turned out. Maybe if I can cook them a nice meal and do their chores Mr… uhh… Zow Long will let me stay. And I sorta' like Ruby and Yang. They seem nice from all those times they visited me in the hospital. Maybe we can be friends?_

Focusing on what he was doing at the moment, he wandered down the hall, trying to find the kitchen, which wasn't that hard to find. Then he realized his next problem. He had no idea where anything was. The food was obvious, in the refrigerator, but plates, bowls, pots, pans he had no idea where they were kept.

 _Well, guess I'll look around. Quietly. I know how to do that._ Harry started with the lower cabinets and found a good cooking pan. He put that on the counter and went over to the refrigerator. He looked around and eventually found a packet of bacon and some eggs. He then pulled a chair up so he could climb onto the counter to look for the oil. It took a few minutes but he found some strange brand of cooking oil and pulled that down. Harry went and fiddled with the stove until he gaged the flames at the correct temperature then set the pan on. After waiting a minute, he pulled out the bacon and emptied more than half of it into the pan.

 _Don't know how much they eat, so I'll just do what Vernon and Dudley usually have._ After getting started on the bacon, he pulled out a smaller pan and started cracking eggs into it, planning on making some scrambled eggs.

Several minutes later, Harry flipped over the bacon, thankfully without splashing any of the grease on himself this time, and was almost finished with the eggs before he realized something. Someone was watching him. He spun around and saw no one there.

Or rather, no _body_. There was some _thing_ there.

The dog.

The short tri-colored corgi

The two stared at each other for a minute before Harry said, "Uhh, good doggie?" It seemed to like that and gave a little _woof_ before trotting over to Harry and sniffing his feet, then gave another woof.

Harry was still a little uncertain about the dog because he had no good encounters with them, all of them being Aunt Marge's dogs which liked to bite and scratch him. However it, he, just walked around sniffing for something. When it stopped by the stove it turned and gave Harry an expectant look.

 _Huh? Oh,_ "You must be hungry, right?" The dog gave another bark that he took as a yes. _Should I give it some food? Am I allowed to? But it looks so… cute,_ he decided on the word. He sighed in defeat and used the tongs he found to pick up a piece of bacon and placed it on a paper towel to let it cool for a moment then used to tongs to hold it in front of the dog. "You want?"

The puppy sat, but was salivating heavily. Harry handed the bacon strip over and the dog started eating it, looking happy all the while. _I almost want to…_ Harry started reaching out with his hand to pet the dog, and it seemed to sense his hesitation as it stilled and waited for him. After a long moment, Harry made contact on top of its head and started rubbing. The puppy seemed to enjoy it as it closed its eyes in contentment.

"It seems Zwei's taken a liking to you Harry." Harry shot backwards as if he was electrocuted and quickly stood up. Taiyang Xiao Long was standing in the doorway, looking amused at the scene.

"I'm sorry Sir!" Harry immediately started apologizing.

"For what? What do you have to be sorry about?" He genuinely sounded curious.

"For not getting breakfast ready in time! I-I'll do better, please," Harry started pleading. _Don't make me go away. I don't want to go. I like it here._

He stiffened when a pair of arms went around him and felt himself being held. _What? What is… oh wait, this is a hug._ Harry slowly relaxed in the embrace, but didn't return the hug. He felt too confused and didn't know what he was feeling. He sniffed.

"Shhh, it's all right Harry. You don't need to prove anything to us. You did nothing wrong." Taiyang just held Harry for a minute with Zwei poking around until…

Harry sniffed, but this time not because of any emotion. _Oh no! The bacon and eggs!_ Taiyang seemed to realize that at the same time as he released Harry and rushed to turn off the stove. "Well then… the bacon's going to be a little extra crispy and the eggs a little over done, but otherwise fine… Though that is a lot of bacon," he added as an afterthought.

"I... didn't know how much you wanted so I just made a regular batch… I hope that's enough?" Harry timidly asked.

Taiyang blinked. " _Regular batch…?_ This is how much your previous guardians, the… Derzmals? Durse… Dursleys, that's it! ate on a weekend?"

Harry shook his head, "No, every day. Plus four eggs with salt and pepper and two slices of French toast, or normal buttered toast, and some sausage on the weekends, and maybe some hash browns. Aunt Petunia would have oatmeal and maybe a fruit or something else."

Taiyang stared incredulously at him. "How many people besides you were there?"

"Three," Harry answered.

He seemed to have broken Taiyang as he just half muttered things like _"must be absolutely round,"_ or _"how could they afford to eat that much."_ Harry began getting more and more worried. _First I almost burn breakfast, and then I did something else he doesn't like. I'm getting kicked out and sent to the place where the other freaks go._ Taiyang seemed to see Harry's increased distress and shook his head to clear it. "Okay Harry, I'll say it again, you've done nothing wrong. You didn't know what we ate so you went with what you know." He grabbed a piece of bacon and bit into it, making a manly moaning sound. "Even burnt it tastes wonderful. 'Course it is bacon."

"Didja say 'bacon'?" Came a young voice, and then Yang appeared around the corner, followed by Ruby. Both of them were in pajamas, but Ruby had on her red cape as well.

Taiyang chuckled and patted Harry on the head, both reassuring him and worrying him at the same time. "Harry got a head start on us and wanted to make breakfast. Bacon and eggs in addition to your usual!"

"Yay!" Ruby cheered and hugged Harry who turned pink at the close contact, but still froze up slightly. "Tank you Harry! You're the bestest!"

"I-uh-I…?" Harry didn't know what to do. _I'm being thanked for something I'm supposed to do?_

"Okay Rubes, you can let go now," Taiyang said, "I'm sure we're all hungry."

"Yep," Ruby said, popping the 'p'. She quickly pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat in it, her short legs waving around. Yang quickly followed her idea, slightly bouncing.

Harry just stood there, wondering what he was supposed to be doing. _I can't help, so what am I gonna' do?_ "Hey Harry," Yang's voice distracted him. He turned and emerald eyes met lavender. "Take a seat, no need to stand."

Harry was in shock again. "Y-you mean I can s-sit?"

She frowned and Ruby looked confused. "Of course. Everyone eats at the table."

"'Cept for Uncal Qwow," Ruby chimed in. "He eats werever he wants."

"Daddy always grumbles when he leaves crumbs on the couch," Yang giggled, then noticed Harry hadn't moved. "C'mon, the chair won't bite ya."

Harry ducked his head in embarrassment and mumbled "Not suppos't to."

Now even Ruby was frowning, feeling something was wrong. She got out of her chair and tugged Harry over to the table. "Sit," she commanded with as much authority as a five year old could muster. Harry sat down in the chair, feeling awkward; both by being ordered around by someone his age and actually sitting at the dining table. He shifted nerviously in his seat as he waited.

A few minutes later Taiyang came out balancing four full plates with bacon and eggs and fruit on his arms. "Breakfast is served," he announced as he placed the plates on the table. "Orange juice and cereal will be here momentarily." He went back in and then almost immediately came back out with four glasses, carrying them carefully. Then he went back with four bowls of cereal. And he also had something else in his hands as well.

"Harry," he said to get the kid's attention, "I've read over the doctor's notes for your recovery. You'll need to eat a lot of food with good protein and calcium, with also additional nutrients."

"Huh?" _I have no idea what he's talking about. Protein? Calcium?_

"Oh. Basically you need to eat meat and drink milk, plus take these vitamins," he said as he put a cup with some pills in it, "so you can become big and strong like a Hunter should be."

"Like you!" Yang added.

Taiyang chuckled, "Sure, like me then."

"Why does he need those icky pills?" Ruby asked as she bit into a strawberry.

Harry looked at Taiyang, who was also looking at him with a questioning look. Harry interpreted it as _'do you want me to tell them?'_ and he nodded, ducking his head in the process. "Ruby, you remember when I told you Harry's previous guardians weren't nice to him?" She nodded. "Well, Harry didn't get enough to eat there and we're trying to make up for that."

Ruby and Yang gasped. "That's terrible," Yang said.

"But he's with us right?" Ruby asked. "He's not going back?"

"Not if I can help it," Taiyang vowed. He paused, thinking about something. "In fact… Harry?" Harry looked up. _What does he want to ask?_ "How would you feel about becoming a part of this family?"

Ruby and Yang squealed/gasped excitedly. Harry blinked confusedly, not getting it. _I already sleep here, but he won't let me do any work to earn my place here. How can I join his family?_ "How?"

"Well I was thinking I could adopt you into the family. That way no one can legally take you away from where you don't want to be. That is, if you want to stay with us," Taiyang clarified.

"You mean I'll be able to stay?" Harry asked, trying and failing not to cry. "You actually want me?"

"Yes we do. It will mean you'll have a family that loves you, or at least cares for you," Taiyang said.

Harry couldn't speak. His emotions were overwhelming him. Confusion, hope, doubt, and baser emotions based on want and need that he didn't understand washed over him as tears leaked out of his green eyes. There was the sound of chairs being scraped and Harry felt two pairs of arms go around him. Both Yang and Ruby were hugging him again.

"Hey, no tears," Yang said. "Be happy."

"I-I guess I a-am," Harry mumbled, sniffing.

"Harry," Taiyang said, "you may not know us as well as you'd like, and we don't know you as well as we'd like as well, but everyone deserves a good family. And you _need_ one after your past guardians, and I use the term loosely."

"Pleese stay wif us," Ruby asked, her head buried inside his chest.

"I-… I would like to," Harry said.

* * *

After that breakfast passed a little more easily. Harry ate as much as he could after they prodded him on, since he reflexively wanted to eat less after so long of not being allowed to eat as much as he wanted. In the end he couldn't since his stomach wasn't used to food in it, but he did take the pills. Afterwards, Taiyang called all of them into the living room and brought Harry's mum's trunk out.

"Harry, there are some important things that you need to know, and I think it would be best if all of you heard it," he said to his two daughters and potential son. "And some of it may be… hard to hear.

"First off, Harry, by your own story you said that you touched one of these crystals," he unlocked the bottom of the trunk and pointed to the empty space where a crystal was, "and suddenly you were in… another place, right?" Yang hung her head, knowing where he was talking about. _I almost got us killed. Stupid! Why didn't I think?_

"Uhh, yes?" Harry answered.

Taiyang sighed. "Qrow found your trunk there and brought it here, and I read through some of the things in it…" He seemed to be at a loss for words. "First off, you have magic apparently," Harry nodded, "and it seems to be a common thing from where you come from."

"Harry's a wizard?" Yang asked, having gotten over her moment of self-loathing.

"Yep, and both his birth parents were too."

"Magic's real?" Ruby asked.

"Evidently it is," Taiyang said, recalling the stories of the Maidens and the Wizard that gave them their powers. "But that's not the most important thing Harry." Harry sat up straighter. "When we looked for your guardians at the address you gave us, we didn't find it. It doesn't exist."

 _What?_ "What?" Harry was confused. _How can it not exist, I lived there for five years. I know it exists._

"When I skimmed through your mom's journals and other things, there were a lot of places that don't exist. History that didn't happen. People, places, names, entire countries that aren't real, or at least here."

"Dad, what are you trying to say?" Yang asked, confusion in her voice.

"I think… and I'm no Dust expert, but the crystal Harry used combined with his magic might have sent him to another world: this one."

"So he's an alien?" Ruby asked cutely.

Taiyang and Yang chuckled, "I don't think so squirt. He's human like the rest of us… Harry? Harry!" He shouted worriedly. He saw Harry tense up again and his breath become shorter. The lights started flickering for some reason, _Maybe his magic reacts to his emotions?_

Harry snapped out of his shock when Taiyang bellowed his name. "Yes Sir, sorry Sir."

"Harry, please, listen to me. You don't need to call me Sir. It's Taiyang, Tai for short." _Maybe Dad in the future._ "Everything is all right. But think about it, you're in a different world now. Do you want to go back?"

"No! I don't!" Harry started panicking, misinterpreting what Taiyang was trying to say, his breathing coming in short gasps. Once again, he felt hands around him as the sisters hugged him once again. He calmed down faster this time and even thought, _I could get used to hugs._ "Sorry."

"Don't be," Ruby said. "S'not you're fault."

"You had a bad home Harry. We want to give you a good one," Taiyang said. "The good thing is that if you are in a different world, then there's no way they can come after you here. You don't need to worry about going back to them. And you're young enough so you can learn all about this world. "

"I don't have to go back?" Harry asked to clarify.

"Nope. It would be better for you if you never went back to them at all. They are unsuitable to be parents much less guardians if that was how they treated you. That's why I want to adopt you into the family, or at least become your guardian, so you'll have a family."

Harry just nodded in understanding, hoping beyond hope that he would actually become a part of their family.

Somewhere a clock chimed and Taiyang started. "Oh, whoops, Yang, school started. I totally forgot!"

Yang groaned, "Do I have to go today?"

"Yes you do. You only have a few weeks left before the winter holidays start," Taiyang ignored her groan of _'that's sooooooo long'_. "C'mon, let's get to it."

Taiyang stood up with Ruby, Yang slowly following, dragging her feet in unwillingness. However they all stopped when Harry didn't get up. Ruby zipped back over to him. "Hey, let's go!"

"M-me?"

"Yes silly, you. If you're goin' to be a part of this family, we do everything twogether. So that means seeing your big sis go to scwool," Ruby explained.

Harry blinked. They actually want me. "You really want me to be part of your family."

Taiyang looked as his two daughters as they in turned looked at Harry and smiled. "I think we already consider you to be part of the family." He paused, thinking. "Harry, why don't you try calling me… Dad?" He felt his face twitch with a myriad of emotions.

Harry looked up in surprise. "You-you want me to call you… Dad? But, aren't I taking away from you?" He asked Yang and Ruby, confusion in his eyes.

Yang seemed to get, if not understand, where he was coming from and trying to say. "Nah, it's fine. Besides, if you're part of the family, then you'll have to call Dad that anyway."

Harry nodded slowly, trying to control his emotions. "I-I'll try…D-d-dad." Harry decided it was completely worth it when all three of them lit the room with their smiles. He decided it was even more worth it when the two girls hugged him.

"Well then, welcome to the family little bro," Yang said with a smirk.

"Let's go, we're going to be about twenty minutes late!" Yang groaned, Ruby giggled, and Harry gave a tentative smile.

 _I could get used to being in a family._

* * *

"You're sure?"

"Well there's more evidence for than against," Qrow said, flask filled with whiskey in hand, leaning against the wall. "But yeah, he definitely has powers that would be considered 'magic'. And will be when he gets older and they get stronger, after his Aura's unlocked."

Ozpin hummed noncommittally as he sipped his coffee. The two were in his office, all recording and monitoring devices had been turned off. Talks like this, things that were related to the Maidens, were kept a secret from many for good reasons. So when Qrow called Ozpin saying that he found a young boy that was a wizard, Ozpin thought to the real fairy tale and was obviously interested in him.

"How old is he?" Ozpin asked finally.

"A little over six, a little too young to be fully displaying his powers, but they're still there," Qrow said. "Younger than our current Fall Maiden."

Ozpin was deep in thought, but Qrow could read him very well. "Don't even think about including him in your little shadow war right now Ozzy. He needs to grow up first."

"Of course," Ozpin said, sounding insulted. "I may be the Headmaster of a school for teenagers and young adults, training them to fight monsters, but children are not soldiers, or even Hunters. And he needs to have a good childhood from his previous situation," Ozpin had a little anger in his voice at that. "I will not ask him unless he wants to be included, and even then, maybe not. I do not want this to be another one of my mistakes."

Qrow rolled his eyes. "Sure, you say that now, but I know my nieces; they want to be Huntresses, especially Ruby. And from what I can tell, Harry will be very close to them and will follow, if not lead. He'll come to Beacon when it's time and I have a feeling he'll be involved."

Ozpin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know and I don't want that. What I am more interested in is another world with wizards and witches, where magic is common," he changed the subject.

"Hey, I can turn into a bird, Tai can breath fire. That sounds like stuff wizards from Harry's world can do, just more."

"It's not just that," Ozpin said with a small smile. "If Harry got here, who's to say that more can't follow, or that people from here want to go there?"

"Then keep the knowledge hidden for the public's good and deal with things when we get to them," Qrow said, shrugging, taking a swig. "It's nothing to worry about now."

"Yes, but it's _later_ that I'm concerned about," Ozpin mused.

Qrow had no answer for the Headmaster.

* * *

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

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 **Well, that's that. In all honesty, I hated this chapter until I added the last scene, but I still think this is the worst so far. I still haven't worked through the block I'm having with this, so I just jumped over it onto the next chapter, which is going along quickly. Quickly as in I want to get it out within the week. I will make it happen! And it will be the delayed Christmas/Holiday special with actual plot in it, with plenty of fluff as well. ((Most of the early chapters will be fluffy (not the dog!))**

 **Anyway, that wraps it up for now... actually no. My god, 474 favorites and 659 followers? I haven't even _done_ that much yet! Thank you so much!**

 **One final thing, this time I promise. I'm working on several different projects. First: I'm going through some of my 'old' stories that I haven't updated in a while and editing them/working on new chapters. Elsa's Phantom is one such instance. Heard as the Outcasts Hear will be next. Second: I'm writing two new stories as well. One will be out sooner than the other. Spoiler, it's going to be a RWBYxHobbit crossover. _Whaaaat?!_ I have the cover art done and I have to say I love it. **

**Okay, now I'm done. It's almost 1AM. Going to sleep now.**

 **As always, R.R.F.F. (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow)**

 **-OrangeGalen**


	7. Yuletide Gifts

**Hello everybody, and here's another update for RWBHY: The Aura Mage. I said I'd get another update out by the end of the week and I did! I had a weird thing where I got the e-mail for your reviews, but they didn't show up on the site for about two days. Strange...**

 **Anyway this is the belated Christmas/holiday chapter, so prepare for fluff... and a bit of my headcannons.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: "Removeo Copyrighto" _*Spell backfires*_ "Damnit! I still don't own any of this!"**

* * *

 **Last Edit- 6/2/16**

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 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

Almost a month had passed since he had been accepted into the family; unofficially that is. Taiyang was waiting to hear back from the adoption people about adopting Harry. Harry never knew that he could have this much fun in his life, not to mention that he was now able and _allowed_ to have fun. Yang and Ruby made sure that his days were interesting and fun with their different antics when they were home since Yang had been going to school for a few hours a weekday until Taiyang… Dad, picked her up. Harry was going to start schooling after the New Year rolled along.

D-dad had been teaching mainly him, with Ruby whenever she decided to wander in and sit, certain things like the alphabet, new words, and numbers, and he was only a little bit behind since the Dursleys didn't want him going to school until absolutely necessary. He didn't have much to catch up on and he was apparently a fast learner, according to Dad, which made him feel happy when he was complemented: something he never was or would be back with the Dursleys. Taiyang logically knew however that Harry was only six and didn't try to shove anything into his head, which he was thankful for.

It was strange being able to call Mr. Xiao Long, Dad. Some part of him knew that he wasn't his real birth dad, but was closer to that than anything he knew before Harry used the title sparingly though and was still having trouble using it more often. The two sisters were a big help in making him feel like part of the family, although Harry had to wonder since they looked different and had different last names. _Though I have a different last name as well so that isn't saying much. And I don't dare ask._

Obviously there was some adjusting, with some bad moments and breakdowns. Harry still instinctively got up early from when he needed to make breakfast and other meals. After a few days of waking up finding Harry in the kitchen, struggling with the dishes, Taiyang had to forge a new rule. _"Okay Harry, here's what we're going to do. You can help me make breakfast, but you can't touch the stove or oven or microwave until you're older, and you won't cook without supervision."_

 _Rules I can understand,_ Harry had thought to himself. _They're something to hold myself with._ There were a few more 'rules' that Harry was told, but it was loads better than what the Dursleys ever told him. Dad explained it as he was too young to do certain things no matter how much his previous guardians told him to do, and should be out playing and having fun.

Once again, Yang and Ruby came to the rescue as they involved him in everything they did. Yang took her big sister role with as much seriousness as a seven year old could, by looking out for him and reading him stories along side Ruby before they went to sleep. Ruby was a bundle of energy and wanted to show Harry everything and get to know him. They both joked around about his British accent, but made sure _he_ knew _they_ were not being mean about it. If he were being honest with himself, he liked Ruby more than Taiyang and Yang. Not that he didn't like the other two, he just liked her… more. Harry really didn't get it either.

Taiyang had driven him several times to the adoption place to get paperwork sorted out. Somebody would ask Harry questions about the family and how he liked them and if he wanted to stay with them. It was a little scary and Harry needed to shut down a bit to control his emotions and get through them, and then a little bit of time to calm down after. Taiyang helped a lot in those cases by just being there and making comforting sounds. Things went a little better in Harry's opinion when he didn't need to go with Taiyang after a while.

There were a couple of times where his magic accidentally came out. One time he made a couple pieces of paper, pencils and crayons float around, and other times changed the color on his clothes. One time he even made water become hot again when he was taking a bath. Even though he knew it was magic, he expected to be punished for doing something freakish, but Taiyang said it was just his Semb-something-or-other and it was normal. Referring to his mum's journals, he called it 'accidental magic', but jokingly said _"how could it be accidental if it's deliberate?"_ Yang and Ruby thought that his magic was cool and were hoping to have the Sem-thingy when they grew up.

All in all, things were much better than Harry ever hoped they could be. However, it was approaching the Winter Solstice, which was a major holiday. Harry knew about Christmas but apparently here in this world they had Solstice celebrations, Yuletide as the winter one. And the Xiao Long/Rose family was defiantly more festive than the Dursleys. Taiyang worked around the clock getting decorations up. The outside lights were more than Harry ever imagined, lighting up the house.

Yang and Ruby got Harry involved in decorating but the three ended up all tied up in garland, giggling madly after they started throwing it around in fun. A tree had been set up and the three were allowed to put up ornaments that were not breakable. Taiyang had to lift each of them up to let them put the ornaments up further on the tree. The entire house was about as festive as the people that lived there.

Currently it was Yuletide Eve and delicious smells were coming in from the kitchen. Taiyang had worked to prepare dinner and had _"just this one time"_ allowed Harry to help with minor things, like mashed potatoes. Harry still wanted to do something to help out and felt the need to work to be accepted into the house, and cooking was something he actually liked a bit.

Harry just finished pealing another potato when somebody knocked on the front door. _"I got it!"_ Came Ruby's eager voice and then the running of feet. There was the sound of it opening then a squeal. _"UNCLE QWOW!"_

 _"Yep, it's me,"_ came a voice. Ruby started chatting away and her voice started getting closer. Harry looked up and saw Qrow walk in with Ruby clinging onto his leg with him, carrying a bag with things in it. Yang followed them soon after.

"Yyyellow Qrow," Taiyang greeted. "'Bout time you showed up."

"Ehh, last minute Grimm hunting. Turned them into chunky salsa," he grinned as he ruffled Ruby's hair after she finally let go. Qrow looked up and met Harry's eyes. "Oh? And who are you? I expected Harry here but not someone else. What's your name?"

Harry slightly closed up and mumbled. "I _am_ Harry."

Qrow made a show of blinking and rubbing his eyes. "Harry? Noooo. It can't be. The last time I saw you, you were just a little runt. Now look at you, you're practically a man now!" Ruby started giggling and even Harry cracked a grin. Qrow smirked. "How ya been?"

"Good," Harry admitted, but didn't say anything else.

"Ah, don't be modest," Yang said. "You're a lot much better. You're almost as fat as Rubes now."

"I'm not fat!" Ruby protested.

"Didn't say you were," Yang teased, then yelped as Ruby jumped on her, ignoring Taiyang's _"not in the kitchen!"_ before he picked them up by their collars and set them out of the room.

"Why don't you three go sit at the table? Qrow and I will bring out the dishes." The three youngsters hurried to the table.

"I can't believe Yuletide is here! Finally!" Yang cheered.

"We've been working hard for this day," Ruby agreed. "Then tomorwow we get pwresents!"

"Presents?" Harry said to himself. _I'd like to get one for once. Maybe… this time…_

He was interrupted when Tai and Qrow walked in parading the turkey and other bowls of food around, making some sort of mock tribal chant before placing them on the table. "Ladies and gentlemen," Qrow announced, "dinner is served."

"So what are you two then since I think Harry's the only gentlemen here," Yang quipped back.

"You're too young to be this sassy," Taiyang said.

"Ehh, reminds me of R-" Qrow started to say before he cut himself off. "Shouldn't you respect your elders?" He said as if the something didn't happen.

"Yes Sir," Harry said, trying to hide a grin, especially as Yang gave him a betrayed look.

"See, Harry's got the right idea," Taiyang said.

"Well, I am the only gen-tle-man here," Harry quipped, now with a big grin on his face. "I have to be nice." Yang's face turned upwards and Ruby started giggling.

The 'adults' dramatically sagged. "You have your hands full with this one," Qrow said in a stage whisper.

"The other two don't help at all, it's like they're trying to give me grey hair. No respect for their old man," he said dramatically.

"Daaad, we still love you," Ruby said, whining a bit, with Yang nodding in agreement.

Tai smiled, "Well, that's good to know," he said a little sarcastically. "Now let's eat before the food gets cold."

Dinner went well. Everybody talked about something, mostly Ruby asking Qrow about his job as a hunter (Harry found it weird he would brag about killing animals with weird names), Yang talked about school, and Taiyang talked about work as well. The only one that stayed quiet, or quieter, was Harry since he had nothing to say for himself. _I don't have anything interesting to talk about, everything I've done is with Yang or Ruby. I don't have any stories… that they probably want to hear._

"And you can thank Harry for the mashed taters," Tai said, bringing Harry out of his thoughts. "Wonderfully delicious, and I never would have thought to add garlic to them."

"Oh, uhh, thank you?" Harry answered.

"Harry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Harry responded.

"Uh-huh," Qrow muttered, disbelievingly.

"Harry, this isn't the time for sad thoughts. It's Yuletide, the Winter Solstice, a time of celebration… and of food and presents," Taiyang added. "You've had a major change in your life and it's time to look back and to move forward. But for now, just enjoy yourself. And to enjoy yoursel…-ves," he told everyone, "we have some pumpkin pie and whipped cream ready."

"Yes!" Yang and Ruby cried out and Harry broke out a tentative smile.

Later, Harry would say that was one of the best things he had in his life. The three of them ate their pieces of pie quickly, leaving whipped cream mustaches and beards. They all laughed and giggled at each others faces, but Taiyang and Qrow put a quick stop to when they were about to throw the whipped cream at each other.

After everyone calmed a bit, Taiyang called the three to the sofa. They all sat down around him, Qrow taking a spare chair and the eggnog (adding his own special ingredient to it), Yang sat on Tai's right while Harry was to his left, Ruby on Harry's left. "So, it's Yuletide Eve, the Winter Solstice once again. Then it will be Spring, then Summer, then Fall, then back to Winter again. The cycle of the seasons. But each season is a little different, summer may be longer, winter colder, but they stay in the same order. And each season has a Maiden that embodies it."

"What does en-body mean?" Yang asked.

"It means they represent, or express each season. Just like you express your feelings, they express their season," Taiyang explained.

"Oh… how does that work?"

Taiyang smirked. "Magic."

Harry looked up at that. "Like mine?" He asked.

"Not exactly," Qrow commented, drinking his eggnog. "I don't know if there are different kinds of magic, but the Maiden's powers are supposed to be incredible."

"Do you want to hear the tale of how they got their magic?" Taiyang asked.

"Yes!" "Of course!" "Yea!" Were the responses.

"Well okay." Taiyang opened up the book that he had. "This is just one version of the story, as it's been told many times." He cleared his throat and started reading. "A long long time ago, there was an old wizard who lived alone. He had grown tired of the world and just wanted to be by him self. He lived in his house alone and never went outside. Years went by, his gardens withered, uncared for and he grew older still. But then one day, four sisters wandered by his house and knocked on his door.

"When they learned he lived alone, they asked, _"Why do you live all by yourself? Is there no-one with you?"_

"The man replied, _"I've grown tired of the world. I have seen many things and have lost many things. Now I just want to live in peace."_

"The sisters understood his thoughts, but felt like he was wasting the life he had been given. The first sister, named Winter, was kind and said, _"I understand you wanting to be alone, but sometimes you need to be with others. I meditate to calm and soothe myself so I can reflect on my life and what I've done. Perhaps you could do the same to find your peace and what you are looking for."_

"The man thought this idea was good and so he did that. He felt at peace and began remembering people and things he had done, things he had forgotten in his long life. _'I miss those times,'_ he thought to himself, _'I should remember them to honor the people I knew, instead of forgetting.'_

"When he finished meditating, he looked out and saw the second sister, Spring, amongst his once dead garden. When she cared for the plants, they became green and growing once again. He saw that she was working hard to get even the tiniest plant green again. She noticed him looking and smiled and came to his door with a basket of delicious fruit and beautiful flowers. _"Hi!"_ She greeted. _"I saw that your plants weren't well, so I healed them and picked some fruit for you."_

"The man looked at the garden and remembered when it was green and growing before, and remembering all the other gardens he's seen. The old man then noticed the second sister holding a fruit out to him. So he took it and ate it, and found it quite tasty. _"Thank you for tending my garden. It's been too long since I did so."_

"The third sister, Sum-Summer, spoke next. _"Why don't you come outside? It's a lovely day and you can feel the breeze on your skin. The world has many wonders, from the large to small. There's so much still to do and enjoy! Why linger inside?"_

"Indeed, the man felt fresh breeze on his face and had forgotten how good it felt. Then he saw how the grass moved, the clouds moving in the sky, the birds singing in the trees, and remembered days of his youth. He took a step out of his door, then another. Soon he was with the four sisters who all were smiling.

"The fourth sister, Fall, finally spoke. "You may have spent a long time trying to hide away from the world, but you've forgotten everything that it has given you. Experiences, friends, joy, sorrow. Everything that has made you who you are. Be thankful for that and what you have, and look forward to new experiences."

"The old man smiled and for the first time in years was glad in the heart. He spoke to the four sisters: "I thank you for what you have given me. You are truly the kindest and most generous souls. For this, I grant you all great powers so you may continue to bring joy and kindness wherever you go."

"Calling upon magic that he hadn't used in a lifetime, he granted each sister great power as the embodiment of their season. They bid each other farewell and went their separate ways, the old man to go about the world and discover new things, and the sisters to spread joy and kindness."

"And so every Yule season, the Winter Maiden, whoever she is, rewards those who have been good and kind to others and goes to all of them, giving them gifts. That is why we celebrate this time of the year, to remember the Maidens and follow their example of spreading cheer and goodness." Taiyang finished the story and closed the books.

The five people sat in silence until Ruby yawned. "That was a nice story," Yang said, also sleepy.

"It's true," Taiyang said. "And when you wake up, then you'll find that the Winter Maiden has given you presents as well."

"Speaking of presents," Qrow spoke, "I need to put mine under the tree. Don't open them until tomorrow though," he warned mock seriously.

"We won't," Yang said innocently. Then she grew solemn and spoke quietly, "I don't think I'll get anything."

Taiyang frowned. "And why do you think that?"

"Because of what happened on Halloween," she said silently. _What does she mean by that?_ Harry wondered.

Taiyang shifted so he hugged his eldest. "Yang, we've talked about this. You had a slip-up, happens to all. I'm not going to say it wasn't your fault, but you had the best intentions at heart. That's what counts. You _will_ have gifts with your name on them tomorrow."

"And tomorrow will come sooner when you're asleep," Qrow added. "It looks like you three are getting tired."

"N-no-no we're not," Ruby protested through another yawn.

"Riiight, off to bed you three." Taiyang ordered.

"Okay Dad," Yang said. Ruby just crawled over Harry into Taiyang's lap and curled up. Qrow snorted at the sight. Taiyang just stood up cradling Ruby and started going to her room (actually Yang and Ruby's room) with Yang following. Harry turned to Qrow and said, "Goodnight… Uncle?" _That's a little weird to say._

Qrow smirked. "Gonna have to work on that one Harry. Oh, Happy Yuletide," he returned. Harry turned and went to his room.

It was still mostly bare, but in the little time that he had been living here they had gotten an actual bed rather quickly and some stuffed animals for him, plus some toys. Harry quickly changed and got into the bed just as the door was knocked on. "Yes?"

 _"Hey, it's me,"_ Taiyang said, _"can I come in?"_

"Yes, of course." The door opened and Tai came in.

"Just wanted to wish you a goodnight, and Happy Yuletide," he said as he came closer.

"Happy Yuletide… Dad," Harry said, a little hesitantly.

Taiyang smiled fondly as he ruffled Harry's hair, "You're alright Harry. By the way I'm expecting to hear back from the adoption agency any day now, and there's been no problems. Pretty soon you're going to _officially_ be my son and part of this family."

Harry grinned. "That's great!"

"It is… now, go to sleep. The Maiden will be here soon and tomorrow you'll get to see what you've earned for being a good kid, and don't say anything bad about yourself," Taiyang warned with a smile, knowing Harry was about to protest from previous instances, "don't even think you don't deserve a present. You absolutely do."

Harry sagged and nodded. "Okay."

"Go to sleep. Tomorrow will be here soon." He gave Harry another head rustle and then left. "Sweet dreams." The door closed.

Harry lay back in his bed, thinking. _Well, the Winter Maiden wanted the old man to reflect on his life, so maybe I should too. I used to be in the Dursleys without any… love at all. Barely ate, had to work to even think about having food… and now, I have two almost sisters and an almost dad and uncle. I don't have to work, and I get to play and have fun. I most definitely am thankful for the life I have now._

Harry rolled over and slowly went to sleep, a smile and a happy tear on his face.

* * *

"Harry Harry Harry! Wake up! The Maiden came!"

The sudden loud voice woke Harry up swiftly. The sudden weight on his side helped as well. He tried looking but all he saw was a red blur. _That's enough though,_ he thought, recognizing the blur. _It's Ruby._ He blindly reached to his bed stand and put his glasses on, then saw the time. 5:56.

"Ruby, what're you on about?" He looked over and saw Yang almost as close with the same eager look on her face.

"The Maiden came! We have presents to open!" Yang exclaimed.

"Presents? For all of us?"

"Yes! C'mon, let's wake up Dad!" Ruby said as she bounced off of Harry and ran out of his room in a blur, Yang following. Harry shook his head to clear it and saw another splash of red. _A rose petal?_ Just like that the petal dissolved into nothing. Harry shook his head to clear it again and followed the two sisters to their dad's room.

Taiyang's door was open and the two were bouncing on the bed, trying to get him up. "Hurbluurg, I'mmmm up. G'roff," came his muttering. Then he slowly got up, almost knocking off Yang. "Head to the living room. I'll be there in a minute."

The three rushed down stairs and saw the pile of presents under the tree… and Uncle Qrow dead asleep on the sofa. "Uncle Qrow! Wake up! The Maiden was here!" Yang shouted.

Qrow had a little more… active reaction as he jumped up before any of them could leap on him, but he immediately calmed down. "Well, that was a wake up call," he commented. He turned to look at the tree and snapped his fingers. "Darn, I must have just missed her. I was trying to catch her and woo her with my charm," he said with a conspiratorial smirk. That earned chuckles from the three kids.

There was a muffled thumping as Taiyang came tromping down the hall. "I swear it's too early for this." Zwei had woken up as well and was yipping happily with the excitement.

"It's never too early for presents," Yang countered.

Taiyang opened his mouth, then closed it. "You're not wrong. I suppose presents first, then food?"

" _Yes_!"

"Alright then. Have at it!" He declared and then the sisters practically dove into the presents and started tearing open the ones with their name on them. Harry looked uncertain before Taiyang motioned him to go for it. He hesitantly started looking for a present with his name on it and he found one that said _'To: Harry, From: The Winter Maiden'. So she did come,_ Harry thought, holding back tears. He tore open the paper with reverence until he uncovered the package, which was a large AuraBlocks set of Beacon Academy, complete with little figures and weapons. A huge smile lit up his face. _My first present… and not the last,_ he added as he saw another package with his name on it.

 _Best holiday ever._

* * *

Hours later, after they opened up all their presents and had breakfast and played with their gifts, Taiyang called them all to the living room again. "Now I know that you're enjoying Yuletide day, but I'd like to take a moment to give one last present."

"Who's it for?" Yang asked from her toy motorcycle that she just got.

"This is for Harry," Taiyang said and handed a skinny package to Harry. "Careful with it though, don't rip it."

Harry took it gently and unwrapped it to reveal… "Papers?"

"Yes," Taiyang said. "What you have there is the second to last step in your adoption, the next is to give it to them. Basically, once you print your name, then you'll, on paper, become a part of this family."

Everyone stilled before Ruby leapt on Harry. "That's soooo good! Do it Harry!"

"Yea! I'll finally be able to call you bro for reals now," Yang said.

Harry looked up with tears in his eyes again. "Where's a pencil?"

Taiyang handed him a pen and Harry was about to sign it before he stopped. _Something feels… wrong._ "What's wrong?" Taiyang asked.

Harry finally realized what it was after a moment. "Shouldn't I have your name?"

Taiyang paused. "Don't you want to keep your last name?"

Harry scrunched up his face in thought. "Yea, but I'll be your son. Shouldn't my last name be yours?"

Taiyang smiled at the thought. "It could be, but Ruby kept her mom's last name, Rose. You could keep your dad's last name."

"But… I'll be _your_ son…" Harry was confused. _I want to be a part of this family, but I also want to keep my last name as well, the one I have right now._

"How about you have two last names?" Qrow suggested. When they looked at him he shrugged, "Has no-one heard of a hyphen before?"

"That would work. You'd have a long name though," Taiyang said.

"What's a hi-pen?" Harry asked.

"It's a dash, a line. We can put it like this," Taiyang wrote on another piece of paper _'Xiao Long-Potter'_.

"I'll do that!" Harry said excitedly. _I get both last names!_

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" Harry eagerly took the pen and carefully spelled his new name.

It would take a few days since the adoption place wasn't open that day, but eventually they got the paperwork done. Harry returned home to numerous hugs and cheers.

He finally had become a part of the family as Harry James Xiao Long-Potter.

* * *

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

 **My RWBY Headcannon: The old man is Ozpin.**  
 **My RWBHY Headcannon: The old man is Merlin. (Whaaat?!)**

 **Well, what do you think? Fluffy enough? I thought so. Thank you all for getting this story well into the five-hundred favorites! Special shout out to Avator24 for the 501st favorite (easter egg for my StarWars fans) and another to hunter81095, check out his RWBY/HP story _Ruby Potter_!**

 **It's going to be a little bit longer wait for the next chapter as I have other things I want to do. If you want to check what's next, look at my profile page for my Update Queue.**

 **So, once again R.R.F.F (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow)**

 **-OrangeGalen**

* * *

 **Review blurb about RWBY Chapter 8: (Spoiler Free)**

 **Once again another heart tearing episode. God, I feel sorry for Pyrrha. And I love Nora and Ren as always. And I'm glad and worried for Ruby now that she's figuring things out... and c'mon Ruby, this is the second time you didn't have Crescent Rose!**


	8. New School and New Friends

**Well. This has been far to long in updating. In all honesty, I lost interest in this story for several months, regardless of how many Favorites/Follows this got. But I eventually got started again and now remember why I had such fun with this!**

 **Once again, I ask for a little faith in knowing what I am doing. If there are questions or 'lazy writing' things I'm doing, they're there for a reason and will be explained later. Like _later_ later. **  
**Also another thing is that Harry, Ruby, and Yang are all kids and aren't exactly like how they are in the show, since they have 10+ years to grow up, though some things stay the same**

 **Again, I'm sorry for the delay. I edited all the previous chapters... _again_ , and I hate doing that, but it needed to be done! Some things in the story I wasn't happy with and that caused me to loose interest in this story until I got around to fix them. Chapter 6 has the biggest change with a new scene at the end, so if there's one chapter you have to re-read, it's that one. **

**That's enough, let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: "Reports of a FanFiction author trying to get copyright rights to the hits RWBY and Harry Potter have been floating around the internet. Now that the legal teams have been assembled and ready for action, all authors trying to claim ownership of things they don't own are encouraged to stay indoors for their own safety, and common sense. Back you you Cyril!"**

(Admit it, you read it in her voice once you figured it out, didn't you?)

* * *

 **Edit- 6/4/16: Fixed a few instances where I accidentally changed Neal's name to Nate.**

* * *

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"""Yes Dad,""" They all chorused monotonously.

"You have everything?"

"""Yes Dad,""" they droned again, tied of hearing this for the last hour.

"I just don't want you to miss anything on your first day of school… do you have your lunches?"

"""YES!""" They shouted, eager to get to school and to stop hearing their dad keep coming up with things that they heard for the last week.

Taiyang held up his hands and backed off, "Okay! I just don't want you three to miss something."

"Dad, it's only the first day," Yang said. "The most we do is move our desks around and introduce ourselves _again_ ," she said in an undertone at the end.

"Well you need to. It's our first time," Harry commented, referring to Ruby and himself as this was his first year going to public school on Patch. He had spent the last school year home-schooled by Taiyang while Yang was finishing up her second year. They had all turned a year older, so he was now seven, his birthday celebrated with his first party, small as it was. Yang was now eight, and Ruby now six, and all of them had their birthday parties.

Taiyang nodded distractedly and said, "Now I know that all of you will be in different classes all a year apart, but look out for each other. Don't hesitate to get a teacher if there's-"

"Dad! We're fine!" Yang cut him off.

Harry took the calmer approach, "We'll be okay Dad. We'll take care of each other and ourselves."

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered, red cloak wrapped around her. "We'll be fine!"

Taiyang just stood back and looked at the three kids in front of him. "I can't believe that all of my kids are now going to school… the house'll be so lonely now," he said melodramatically.

Harry knew he was acting but couldn't help but give his dad another hug. He felt two other people doing the same thing and smiled. "Daaa _aaad_ ," he heard Ruby whine, "We're not leaving you!"

"Only for a couple hours," Yang piped up jokingly.

"Then we'll be back," Harry added.

Taiyang snorted and wrapped his arms around the three. "I know; I'm just messin' with ya'. Now c'mon, let's get you kiddos to school." He ushered the three enthusiastic kids out the door and to the car in the driveway. They all piled into the back seats, putting their backpacks on their laps, as Taiyang wouldn't let them in the passenger seat until they were older. On the second try, Tai got the slightly aged Dust car started and he drove onto the dirt road to the main city. They lived a few minutes away from the edges of the main city on Patch so the asphalt didn't reach their house, but that was fine.

"You guys and girls excited?"

"Oh yes!" Ruby cheered. "I can't wait to meet new people! Maybe others want to be Huntresses when dey grow up!"

Yang chuckled at her little sister's enthusiasm. "You can always hope. Chances are there's somebody that thinks the same like you."

Harry had a smile on his face as he saw Ruby puff her cheeks in annoyance with her older sister, and also refrained from saying that he somewhat thought the same.

One of the things that had fueled his imagination were the Hunters and Huntresses of this world, fighting against the creatures of evil, the Grimm. Taiyang, dad, was an official Hunter but hadn't gone on missions in years. Harry had gotten hints that Yang and Ruby's mom was a Huntress, but she was gone… like his mom was. He figured Ruby got her looks from her mom and Yang got hers from dad since they didn't look alike much. Honestly, Harry thought he looked closer to Ruby if only because of the black hair.

The car ride passed in light chatter after Ruby got over her grilling and soon enough they pulled in front of Cobalt Elementary. The building was a single story, save for the multi-purpose room which was a story and a half taller, and split into four wings for the different age groups and classes.

Tai, after parking and getting out himself, opened up the doors to the back seats. Yang tried to shoot out but dad grabbed her before she could go far. "Ah ah ah, where do you think you're going little lady?"

"Daaaad," she groaned. "You don't need to do this _every_ day."

Taiyang had a massive grin on his face. "Yes I do. Dad's prerogative." He then pulled in his oldest for a hug and planted a kiss on the top of her head, ignoring her playful protests.

By then Harry and Ruby had gotten out as well, but were subject to the same treatment, though Ruby and Harry submitted much more agreeably. Harry really liked the feeling of being hugged and supposed he was a little like Zwei in wanting affection. I really like hugs, especially if they're from dad or my sisters.

Taiyang eventually let go of his kids and stood back. "Three Xiao Longs in the school. They won't know what hit them," he said with a devilish smirk.

"Dad, I'm a rose!" Ruby wanted to clarify.

"Only half; the rest is all Xiao Long. And Harry, just because you're not my son genetically doesn't mean that you aren't my son in heart, where it truly matters. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise," he said seriously.

Harry nodded. "I won't." _I don't think I can go back to how I was. I don't want to. With Aunt… no, not my aunt. The Dursleys telling me what I am. I am a wizard. The son of Lily and James Potter, the son of Taiyang Xiao Long, brother to Ruby and Yang._

"Good," Taiyang said. "Now, go rock this school!"

"Thanks dad!" Yang cheered, already heading off into the building.

"Love you!" Ruby squeaked and gave her dad another hug before dashing off.

"Love you too," Harry said, following Ruby's lead and giving his new dad a hug.

"Love you all," Tai said, returning the hug before releasing him. Harry ran off to the school, leaving Tai by the car. After watching them go inside, he got in the car and drove out of the drop-off zone back home for a few hours before picking them up again. "They're growing up so fast. You'd be proud of them Summer," he said to the air as he drove.

* * *

Up in a tree across the street, a crow had watched the proceedings with a keen eye. When the car left it tensed up, as if it were about to take off, but stilled when it saw a woman with long raven-black hair step back into an alleyway. The crow 'cawed' and glided down to the entrance of the alley, intent on seeing this woman, but there was no one there and only the echo of a sound. The crow stared into the alley for a minute before cawing again and taking off, flying into the sky.

* * *

 _This is my first day in my new school,_ Harry thought as he went down the hallways trying to find the right classroom and teacher, _and I have no bloody clue where to go. Room 103? What does that mean?_ Ruby beside him looked about as lost as he did, and more nervous now that the earlier confidence was gone, but that actually made Harry stand straighter and pay more attention. _I also need to help Ruby too. It's not just me._

"Hey Ruby," Harry said to get her attention.

"Hmmm?" Ruby looked over and met his eyes.

"What room do you need to go to again?"

"Oh uh," she looked at the paper closely and said, "One zero one."

 _Okay, so that's almost next to my room._ "Mine's one-oh-three, so we should be heading to the same place. Let's go together!" Harry was glad when Ruby's face turned into a smile and her small, meek steps turned into near skipping.

They tried to avoid the crowds when they could, and skirted near the edges, unused to all the people here. Ruby got more nervous and Harry was fighting to keep up his confidant appearance for his sister. There's so many people. It's also cramped. I don't like this, I just want to find my classroom, and Ruby's. Ruby's first. I need to take care of her. I'm her brother. "Let's go this way," Harry said to Ruby, getting her attention again.

"O-okay," Ruby said, quiet.

"Hey, don't be nervous… okay bad words," Harry immediately retracted that statement. "It's okay to be nervous. I'm nervous. But it'll be okay. It's only the first day and stuff and… yeah." _I have no clue where I was going with that._

Ruby gave a small smile and hugged him, saying, "Thanks." She pulled away, looking better but still a little sad. They continued looking for their classrooms and after what seemed like a long time they finally found Ruby's.

"Oh, this is mine," Ruby said, looking up at the number above the doorway, chattering voices coming from behind it. She still looked nervous.

"Okay then. Umm, take care Ruby. Have fun and be good," Harry said, giving her another hug, which she returned.

"Okay! You to!" Ruby said, happier now than before. She opened the door and stepped through.

Harry looked at the door as her red cloak disappeared through it. _Alright, now to go to my classroom._ He walked a little further down the hallway and found the room he was supposed to go to. Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle and opened the door, walking through.

Inside most of the desks were filled up with other kids in them, talking to one another. The teacher, as Harry could only assume that's what she was, looked up at his arrival and smiled. "Hello dear, take a seat wherever you feel like and class will start in a few minutes."

Harry blinked and looked awkwardly around. Instinctively he wanted to sit by himself so no one would pick on him or make fun on him. But he also knew that he needed to make some friends other than his sisters.

He looked back to the teacher and said, "Yes Ma'am." He walked over to the nearest open seat and sat down. The boy next to him had two little white horns starting to stick up through his brown hair, marking him as a Faunus. That was one of the things that dad had told him about, the Faunus people. _'They aren't any different from you or I, they just have a few extra features.' I wonder why he made such a big deal about how they weren't different from us. I think having extra ears or a tail is pretty cool._

The boy turned to look at Harry as he sat down. "Hi," he greeted amicably.

"Hello," Harry returned the greeting, slightly surprised that someone wanted to talk to him. "I'm Harry."

"Neal," the boy introduced. "You have a funny accent," he bluntly said.

Harry blushed, but pointed out the obvious like Neal did, "And you have horns."

"Yep! I'm a ram Faunus!" He said proudly.

"That's cool," Harry said honestly.

Neal looked at him strangely. "Y'know, you're one of the few who've said that. You want to be my friend?" He asked.

Harry, for the second time in a few minutes was shocked. _Someone wants to be my friend? Someone that isn't Yang or Ruby?_ He realized he had yet to answer so he said, "Err, yeah. I would like to be your friend."

"Great!" Neal said, a smile on his face that Harry had to return. _I made my first non-family friend today!_

All conversation stopped when the teacher stood up and walked to the front of the room. "Hello class!" She greeted, with most of the kids saying 'hello' or some variation of it back. "Welcome to your first day as a second grader! Let's start off by giving your names, then your age, and something interesting that you want to share with everyone else. I'll go first. My name is Chelsea Lavender, though you can call me Mrs. Lavender. I have been teaching for twelve years and am forty-one years old, and I have a daughter that is trying to become a reporter." With that she motioned to the girl on her right and she gave her name and other things.

Introductions went around the room until it was time for Neal. He stood up and said, "My name is Neal Tan, I'm seven in three weeks, and I'm a ram Faunus! And my dad works with the White Fang." He sat down, though there was some muttering amongst a few kids after that.

It's my turn then, Harry thought and stood up himself. "Hello, I'm Harry Xiao Long-Potter, and I'm a month over seven. I'm… uh," he blanked on what to say and didn't think that 'I'm from a different world' would work here, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. "I'm adopted and have two sisters and a dad that I love a lot." He sat down, trying to keep his face from heating up because of the attention he was getting now.

"Thank you for sharing with us Harry," Mrs. Lavender said. "Alright, so what's your name?" She then asked the next kid.

It went on for another few minutes then Mrs. Lavender made everyone sit in alphabetical order to their last name. Unfortunately, Harry couldn't sit next to Neal as there were people that had last names in-between 'T' and 'X'. And he was the last person. The girl next to him, a Haile White, had gray hair that was almost white-blue. For the rest of the day, they just played games with a little bit of education value, but it was the most fun Harry had at school. And he didn't need to worry about Dudley hitting him!

He became semi friends with Haile, but Harry didn't know they would be close friends. He knew though that Neal was a real friend- not his first, that was shared with Ruby first, and Yang second- and they would stay that way.

* * *

"So how'd the first day of school go?" Taiyang asked.

"It went great!" Harry exclaimed, much happier with this new school than back at his Aunt's. In retrospect, that was never home for him, not like here. "I made a new friend!"

"That's great Harry," Taiyang said.

"It was okay," Yang said casually. "It was great to see my old friends again."

"Meh," Ruby grumbled, pushing food around on her plate, her face squished up against her fist, resting on the table.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, wanting to know and help.

"Nobody likes me," Ruby moaned.

"How can nobody like you? You're an adorable bundle of cuteness," Taiyang said, unsuccessfully hiding a smirk.

"Daaaaaad," Ruby groaned.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all, "but it was only the first day. Maybe tomorrow you'll meet someone that you can be friends with."

"Oh, I know, I can introduce you to Neal tomorrow!" Harry said excitedly. _It would be nice if everyone could be friends!_

"Umm, okay," Ruby mumbled, clearly not as excited as Harry was.

"Sow 'oo is Meal?" Yang asked, talking around her spaghetti.

"Yang! Don't talk with your mouth full," Taiyang reprimanded.

"Sorry, who's Neal?" She asked again.

"Oh, Neal's someone in my class. He's a cool guy and a ram Faunus!" Harry explained.

"A Faunus? Cool!" Yang commented.

"That's neat," Ruby chimed in.

Taiyang hummed and then said, "Well, as long as you like him and want to be his friend, that's great." Harry beamed at having a friend approved by his family. "Now eat up! Tomorrow's another school day and you want to be ready for it."

"Okay Daddy!" Ruby chirped, with Harry and Yang agreeing as well.

The night passed quickly and Harry eagerly went to bed, excited to go to school tomorrow and see his friend and sisters having fun together.

* * *

"Neal, I want you to meet my sisters!" Harry said excitedly. It was the second day and the first time they had recess so all the classes had gone out into the field. There was a division between the older years and the younger, so everything was split in half. Harry was highly animated, waiting for his friend to come to him.

"Okay," Neal answered as she followed Harry. "So who am I meeting?"

"Ruby said she will be by the hopscotch place," Harry answered, not caring in the slightest that he didn't know where those were. Ruby would be easy to spot with her cloak. To be honest with himself, he wanted Neal to get along with Ruby more than Yang. It felt important that he could get along with Ruby otherwise they may have trouble being friends. "There she is!" Harry exclaimed, seeing a flash of red on the asphalt.

And it was Ruby. She was talking animatedly with another girl, who had dark red-brown hair. _Looks like Ruby made a friend after all,_ Harry thought happily. She wasn't happy at all yesterday, but now it looks like she is.

"Ruby!" He called and the girl turned at the call.

"Hiya Harry!" She greeted as the two boys came up to her. "This is my brother I was talking about Ginger," she said to the girl next to her.

"Okay," she said, a little quiet.

"I'm Harry," Harry introduced himself, "and this is Neal, my friend."

"Hi!" Neal greeted.

"Hello, I'm Ginger… and please, no hair jokes," she said tiredly.

"Okay," Harry nodded. _I know all about hair jokes,_ he thought, as his hair never seemed to want to lie straight.

"And I'm Ruby," she declared to Neal.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

"Great! We're all friends now!" Ruby affirmed with a smile.

"Good," Harry said… "So what do you want to do?"

"Let's go over to the monkey bars," Neal suggested.

"Sounds fine to me," Ruby said.

"Okay," Ginger said with a shrug. "I'm fine with that."

The four of them headed to the playground and gathered around the metal structure. Without any pause, Neal jumped and grabbed the first bar, then started swinging himself across them. The other three of them started cheering him on, but he couldn't hold on and then dropped about halfway.

"Good try!" Ginger cheered.

"I'll go next!" Ruby said and jumped on again. She didn't make it as far and dropped. They all went in turn and Harry went the furthest, making it about 2/3rds of the way before dropping. It was strange because he felt lighter and wanted strongly to make it. But he didn't have the arm strength and dropped as well, and felt heavier when his feet hit the bark under him.

They were all having fun, but it wasn't to last.

"Hey, I thought you were a ram animal, not a monkey," an obnoxious voice called out when Neal was going again, causing him to miss a bar and faceplant in the ground.

They all looked over and saw that there were three boys standing close to them. They all looked older and had mean grins on their faces. The boy in the center had orange hair with blond highlights, and was the one that spoke. "Now that position is the only way you animals should be," he sneered.

"I'm not an animal, I'm a Faunus!" Neal shouted back, jumping to his feat.

"Is there a difference?" The boy said dryly.

"Hey! You leave him alone you meanie!" Ruby shouted at him.

"And are you going to make me squirt?" He chuckled, the other two doing the same. "Why are you friends with this freak?"

 _Freak_. It wasn't nearly long enough for him to forget that name, that label, he was called for the first six years of his life. But this time, it wasn't directed at him. It was directed at Neal. The third friend he made, or the first that wasn't family. And now he didn't fear retaliation from his Aunt and Uncle since they weren't here.

"Don't call him a freak! He's not a freak!" Harry shouted, angry for his friend.

"Ha! If he isn't a freak then why does he have horns?" One of the other boys said.

"Because he's a Faunus!" Ginger inputted into the growing spectacle.

"See, a freak!" The second boy said.

""He's not a freak!"" Both Ruby and Harry shouted at the same time, causing them to look at each other in momentary surprise at the echo.

"Yes he is, and if you're friends with him then you're freaks as well," the main boy said.

Harry was mad. _I'm not a freak! I was never a freak! I am not a freak!_ He felt a pressure suddenly leave him and then the boy's orange-yellow hair turned a bright pink.

"Wh-what happened?" One of the boys said.

"What?" The main boy asked.

"Your hair is _pink_ now!"

"What? It's not pink! Are you color blind?" The main boy said.

"No it's definitely pink," the other boy said. The main boy took a look at his hair and his mouth flopped open and closed, no words coming out.

Neal, Ginger, and Ruby were all snickering, but Harry was worried. _I did something again! Something fr- no! Magical,_ he reminded himself. _But now I'm going to get in trouble!_

The boy seemed to realize the same thing, but decided that he would be the one to get him in trouble. "You! You did this!" He started marching forward, but then a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hey bud, that's my brother and sister there."

The boys turned around. Standing there, in all her glory, was Yang Xiao Long. And she looked like she was about to break something. Preferably something belonging to the boy.

"So?" The boy said challengingly, the effect ruined by the way his voice wavered.

"I don't like it when people call my siblings names," Yang said, eerily calm.

 _"That's my older sister,"_ Harry heard Ruby whisper to Ginger.

"What are you going to do about it?" The boy continued.

"This." And with that meager warning, Yang drove her fist into his stomach, causing him to fold in half and crumble onto the ground, crying.

Everything stopped for a second in that moment where everyone needed to process what happened. Harry suddenly felt proud of Yang for standing up and a smile started to grow on his face.

But the sudden appearance of a teacher wiped that grin clean.

"What's going on here?" The teacher half-shouted, marching over. He had orange hair, but a more brown shade than the main boy's, and a angry look on his face. He took one look at the boy on the ground, holding his stomach and crying, and then looked at the assembled faces. He then focused on Nate. "Causing fights already? I'll see you written up for this."

"But he didn't-" Yang tried.

"Was I talking to you?" The teacher cut her off. He faced Neal again. "Causing fights? Why am I not surprised that you of all… people," he seemed hesitant to use that word, "are doing things like this? And dying other people's hair?" He had to take a second look at the boy again.

"He wasn't doing anything!" Ruby protested.

"Yeah!" Harry said, and pointed to the boy on the ground, "He came over and started calling Neal names."

"Is that so?" The teacher raised an eyebrow. He looked at the three boys. "Is that true?"

"No! It's not!" The second one said.

"Liar!" Yang shouted and started going towards him, but the teacher's sharp voice stopped her.

"Enough! I'll see both of you written up for causing violence. Come with me to the principal's _now_!" He barked the last word and then waited for them to move. Without knowing any other option, Harry, Ruby, Yang, and Ginger followed him. As they passed the three boys, they didn't notice the main boy's hair turn back to normal.

It wasn't until they were a bit away from them when Harry heard them laughing. He turned and saw that the main boy was stood up, albeit holding his stomach. A flush of rage flooded through him and once again his magic reacted, sending all three of them sprawling on the ground without warning.

 _Y'know, maybe this magic thing isn't a bad thing at all,_ Harry thought smugly.

* * *

"I'm telling you sir, these two were causing trouble, the Faunus being the instigator," the teacher said loudly to the seated principal. The four of them were sitting in chairs, being in various states of worry.

"And I know as well as you do Mr. Winchester that those three boys also have a history of bullying," the principal retaliated, holding his ground. "And yes, Miss Xiao Long did admit to punching Zachary, but it was understandable." He held up a hand to stop any protest the teacher was about to say. "I will let her father know what happened and she will be punished, but I will also tell those three boy's teacher about their behavior as well."

The teacher looked like he was restraining himself from continuing the argument and remained silent.

The principal turned to the four of them and said, "I apologize for the overreaction of Mr. Winchester for the situation. You may go back to your classes now."

"Yes sir," they replied and stood up, leaving the office. Once the door was closed, they stopped and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would," Yang commented.

"Yang! You got in trouble!" Ruby pointed out.

"Meh, it was worth it," Yang dismissed the punishment with a wave of her hand.

They all stopped when they heard voices from inside the office again _. "Mr. Winchester, you've repeatedly made your feelings about Faunus clear, and this is your last warning. If there's another incident where you single out a Faunus for something they didn't do, you won't be teaching here anymore,"_ the principal said loudly, laying down the rules.

 _"I understand Sir,"_ the teacher spat, _"and I'm glad that my nephew doesn't go here, as anyone can get in."_

 _"That_ is _the point of public school,"_ the principal shot back.

There wasn't a reply as the door started opening. That seemed to get the four of them going and they took off, exhilaration of almost being caught racing through them. Harry took a look at them. Yang seemed to be enjoying herself, while Ginger and Ruby seemed to be a cross of excited and worried. Neal looked happy as well like Yang, and Harry had to smile to himself.

 _I think we're all going to be great friends. And this is only the second day of school! Just think what the year will have for us!_

And it would be true, but multiplied by several years for their entire education at Cobalt Elementary.

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 **So this is the first instance where Yang ditches them on the first day. Don't make it a trend Yang... too late.**

 **Hey hey! How about that? I finished! I hope that this staunches the bleeding for an update on this, and I expect a little more frequent updates soon. The next chapter will be a time skip montage since I don't want to write every year that they're in elementary school. But it'll be long since it'll have at least four different stories in it, so that's something!**

 **It's fun to see the differences between the English and the American terms. Primary-Elementary, revise-study, and other things. It'll be funny when Harry returns to Britain and has to adapt back.**

 **So here we got the RWBY Malfoy and cronies, and then the Snape of RWBY. Thinking about this story, there are a lot of similar character types in both Harry Potter and RWBY. Ozpin=Dumbledore, Goodwitch=McGonagall, Blake=Hermione (books), early Weiss=Malfoy (admit it, you thought the same at some points), Port=Lockheart but with actual skill. There's more, but you'll see later.**

 **Thanks again for your patience with this! The story will kick up soon when they get to Signal!  
And thank you all for making this my most favorited story on fan fiction, and the 6th most favorited HP/RWBY crossover story!**

 **As always, R.R.F.F (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow)**

 **-OrangeGalen**


	9. Time Skip I

**Hello everybody! Welcome back to RWBHY: The Aura Mage. It's been a while (again) but here's that update I've been going on about. Just a notice this is a series of shorts compiled into one chapter, each section is marked with the** **'** x **'** **This is a time skip chapter, so each one takes place months to years after the previous one. But age really doesn't matter here, so just enjoy the mainly fluff of this chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

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 **Disclaimer: What did the volcano say when it saw its true love?**

 **This is unbe-lava-ble, it must be magma day!**

 **(Boooo! Get off the stage!)**

 **This chapter sponsored by the Punny Yang foundation and it's one and only member, who also happens to be the head of the foundation. And much like the foundation, I do not own it!**

 **(exits through trapdoor)**

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"Harry, can you please explain this grade you got?"

Harry's nervousness grew tenfold at the tone of his dad's voice, even more so when he held up a paper that had a 'D' on it in bright red ink, and then exponentially more so when he dared to look at the expression on his dad's face. It was completely blank, no emotion being shown, and Harry knew that it meant he was disappointed in him.

He remembered that test. It was the one right after another test that Neal said was hard, which Harry found mainly easy. _I needed to get my grade lower, otherwise he wouldn't be my friend because I'd be smarter than him, and he wouldn't like that and then I'd lose him as a friend,_ Harry had thought. Now, he ducked his head and braced himself to be punished, keeping silent.

Taiyang looked at the suddenly submissive and meek boy and softened. _Sometimes I keep forgetting that he's had a bad home life just two years ago,_ he thought _. I can't imagine what he's thinking right now, but it's probably not good. And I really don't want to punish him, I just want to know why he didn't do so well when I know he's at this level. Past it even._

"Harry, I know you can do better than this," Taiyang said softer now, gesturing to the graded homework.

"Sorry sir," Harry mumbled, still looking down.

"Harry," Tai almost sighed, keeping the slight irritation out of his voice through long learned patience. "What have- we've been through this 'sir' thing."

"I'm sorry Dad! But I don't know what to do!" Harry finally broke, trying not to cry, but failing, feeling a tear go down his cheek. "I want to make you proud, but I don't want to lose my friend! I don't know what to do."

"Whoa, hey, slow down there kiddo," Tai said, crouching down and drawing Harry into a hug. Harry didn't stiffen, but didn't feel like he was worthy of returning the hug. _I'm a failure. I can't do anything right no matter how hard I try._

"Let's start from the beginning. What's your thought process for thinking you'll lose your friend if you do well?"

Harry sniffed and started talking. "If I do better than Neal, then he won't like that because I'll be smarter than him and then he won't like me and won't want to be my friend anymore because I'm doing better than him." Harry rambled on, getting it off of his chest.

Taiyang just held him until he calmed down, then looked him in the eye. "Harry, it's fine if you do well on a test. You should always do your best in what you do, because no one else can be you," Taiyang smirked as he lightly tapped Harry's nose, causing him to wrinkle it in displeasure. "How long have you known Neal?" Tai asked, changing strategies.

"Umm, about a month?" Harry answered, wondering where his dad was going with this.

"And in that month, do you think you've gotten to know Neal?"

"I think so?"

"Then do you think he's the kind of person who would stop being somebody's friend because they did better than him?" Tai asked.

Harry thought about it for a long moment then slowly said as he thought it out, "No. He wouldn't. He's not like those other people."

"Then you shouldn't hold yourself back in doing well," Tai said, glad that they came to an understanding. "And if he was that kind of person, then you don't need him as a friend, and he never truly was your friend to begin with," Tai finished.

Harry was quiet for a moment. _He's right. Neal isn't that kind of kid to do that. He'd still be my friend._ That realization made him really happy. "You're right! Thank you dad!" Harry said, then leapt into Tai's arms in a big hug.

"Don't mention it son. That's what I'm here for. Now why don't you go play with your sisters and get your mind off of this," Tai flittered the test around before tossing it.

"Okay!" Harry said and ran off into the house.

"And don't forget to do your homework!" Tai called after him, earning a giggle from the boy.

 _I love dad,_ Harry thought with a smile as he found Ruby and Yang trying to form a jigsaw puzzle.

"Oh, hey Harry!" Yang noticed as their adoptive brother came into the room. "C'mon and join us. We're having trouble."

"This puzzle's hard!" Ruby groaned, but then immediately perked up. "But the picture's nice!" Harry came closer and saw the picture on the box. It was a picture of the CCT tower that was at Beacon, those glowing green orbs at the top.

"Sure! I'll help!" Harry agreed, walking over and giving Ruby a side hug, then another for Yang. The three of them worked together to solve the puzzle and all of them had a great time, Harry forgetting his earlier funk, his resolve to do better in class strengthened.

* * *

"Hey Harry, what'd ya get?" Neal asked, leaning over as he held the test he was just handed back. Harry had one too.

Harry froze for a moment, but remembered the talk he had with his dad. _Remember what dad said: if he doesn't like it, then he really wasn't my friend to begin with._ He took a preparatory breath and then showed him ram Faunus friend his score. "I got an A-," Harry said, expecting to hear words of ridicule or scorn.

"Cool! That's really awesome!" Neal congratulated. He held up his own paper. "I only got a 'B' though," he said, slightly disappointed.

Now Harry had to rewire his thought process and scramble for a sympathetic answer. "That sucks. But it's still pretty good! You'll do better next time!" Harry said, hoping that was the right answer.

"I'll do my best," Neal said with a smile, that Harry returned, glad that they were still friends and feeling silly that he was worried about something that now seemed unimportant.

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* * *

Ruby was on a mission and she would not be distracted. Her entire goal in life was in front of her. She was trying to do this in front of all of her peers and family (well, not dad right now). If she didn't do this, she would embarrass herself and her friends, and Harry especially.

"C'mon Ruby, you can do it!" Ruby smiled at hearing his voice and it made her feel as light as a feather, and about a bunch more con… confadant. Like she could do this more.

 _He's right, I can do this!_ Ruby crouched and then jumped. She was in the air for a split second before her hands grabbed the metal pole. Her momentum carried her forward and she shot out her other hand to grab the next pole. _I can do this! I can do this!_ She thought every time she grabbed a new pole as she continued her trial. Her arms burned, but she pressed on. But then she felt her grip slip.

 _I can't do this!_ she thought in a panic. There was nothing she could do however as her left hand slipped when grabbing the next bar. Her right wasn't strong enough to support her weight and she fell onto the tanbark of the playground amongst groans.

"Too bad Rubes, you almost had it that time," Ruby heard the voice of her older sister say.

"Just leave me here to be sad," Ruby moaned, putting an arm over her eyes to block her sight

"C'mon Ruby, up and at'em," Harry said close by. Ruby wanted to shrink into herself. _I didn't do it! Now Harry thinks I'm a loser and-_

Whatever she was thinking was cut off when Harry continued. "You'll get it the next time I'm sure." Ruby moved her arm and blinked, Harry's grinning face coming into focus. Despite feeling bad herself, Ruby smiled back at Harry.

"Sure. You're right! I'll do it next time!" Ruby accepted the two offered hands from her older siblings and was pulled up to her feet. "Just not today. My arms hurt a little."

"You still need to grow up a little more sis," Yang said, playfully ruffling Ruby's hair, ignoring the redhead's attempts to bat her arms away. Ruby didn't hate it when Yang did that, as she knew that it was her way of showing love and affection, but it didn't mean she liked having her hair messed up. _And I know Yang hates it if anybody messes with her hair._

"I'm fine as is!" Ruby protested with a pout that she was told was simply adorable. _Which is annoying because I'm not going for adorable._

"You are, and you're only going to get better," Harry said, making Ruby smile.

"See! That's why he's my favorite brother!" Ruby declared.

"Oh you wound me so," Yang deadpanned, trying to get the grin off of her face as she said so.

"Ahhh, you do know that I'm you're only brother right?" Harry said slowly.

 _Well of course you- ohhhh. It suddenly came together in her head._ "Ahh, yep! Yes, you are both my favorite and, ah, my only brother. So that means you are the bestest brother I have!"

Harry snorted, laughing a bit, and the rest of the group was chuckling again, making Ruby smile as well.

Then an unwelcome voice broke in.

"I heard that he's not even your brother really, just someone that you picked up off the street." Ruby winced and wanted to shrink in on herself.

Zachary Indigo, one of the most infamous bullies of Cobalt. The one that tried to get them in trouble last year with Neal and was against Faunus. And he hadn't given up, just stopped every once in a while when he did get caught.

"Hey, buzz off, we don't want you here," Yang said, stepping forward menacingly, trying to intimidate Zachary and his cohorts that were just behind him. _Yang knows how to make people not want to do things,_ Ruby thought, admiring her sister.

It almost worked because a few of the more shady ones took a step back, but Zachary glared back, smirking slightly. "Sure, do something. Rack up another detention. Just another tally added to the record of a girl with anger issues."

Ruby was surprised at that. _A-_ Another _detention? Than means… that means she's had more than one! But she's never said that she's had that many. She's always in those tu-tod-tutoring classes after school…_ She looked over at Yang for her to deny it, but she was shocked when she noticed Yang's expression had changed to one with uncertainty in it. That made Ruby afraid. _Yang's always certain of what she does! She never backs down! I don't understand._

Harry stepped forward, putting a hand on Yang's shoulder, getting her attention. Harry turned his amazing green eyes towards Zachary and said, "As if your record is spotless too. Why are you here?"

Zachary smirked. "What record? According to the files the school now has after my dad arranged something, I'm a perfect student. Flawless record. And I heard awhile back that you were adopted and I wanted to see if that was true. That's kinda' pathetic, being adopted, am I right?" He asked the people behind him and got a few affirmatives and laughs.

Ruby was mad now. _Nobody makes mean fun of Harry, my brother!_ "Go away meanie!" She shouted at Zachary.

 _"Go away meanie!"_ He mocked back, sticking his tongue out at the end.

"Hey! Leave Ruby out of this!" Harry shouted.

"She's the one that wanted to be in this," Zachary pointed out, admittedly truthfully.

"Look. This is my family now," Harry said gesturing to Yang (who had regained her confidence) and Ruby who beamed at him. "And I love them a lot. And," he added with a smirk, "at least my dad _chose_ to adopt me. Your parents are stuck with you."

Ruby got it immediately, as well as Yang and their friends who started giggling, with Neal giving a "burn!" Zachary looked confused for a little bit, but then understanding came across his face and he got mad. "Why you!" He came closer, his fist curled up, ready to strike.

Ruby's vision was filled with yellow and brown as Yang stepped forward and said softly, but with something in her voice that made Ruby almost shiver, and many of the other actually do so. "I wouldn't do that Indigo."

Zachary checked himself at the last moment and just glared at her. Ruby almost wanted him to do something so Yang could do the something back… even if fighting was wrong. Nate seemed to want to fight as well and stepped forward…

Just as Mr. Winchester found them. Again.

"Alright you lot, now I've caught you again! This time I'll make sure that your punishment is more severe."

Ruby had to hold a groan, and was more successful than some of her other friends, and needed to hold Yang's hand to stop her from attacking Zachary because of the smug smile on his face. "Yang, please."

Yang deflated instantly when she looked at her and they all silently followed the teacher to the principal's office again. _This feels like watching a movie again for the tenth time,_ Ruby thought. Even more so when Mr. Winchester started going off about them and the principal, Jefferson Greene, just listening with increasing disinterest.

"Look, Mr. Winchester," Principal Greene cut off the man's tirade. "I know as well as you that young Indigo has marks on his records, no matter what the online reports say. It's interesting how some of my paper records disappeared a few weeks ago and then were found in the staff lounge. Some of them I know to have been changed." The man seemed calm and like he was talking about the weather, but Ruby could feel the tension growing.

Winchester started to lose some of his bluster a bit and said a little slower. "Mr. Greene, only you have access to your paper files. I don't know how they got there, but we have a different matter to discuss with these five students."

"I think this is really about one student, Robin. Mr. Zachary Indigo. I know that Miss Xiao Long has a record that stands against her at first glance, but many of those incidences were provoked by others. Potter-Xiao Long has only two marks, but those have been excused. Mr. Tan has less than Miss Xiao Long, and most of it is because of his heritage. And Misses Rose and Pann have no faults.

"Now, past aside, there was no fighting today, and only verbal spats between school children. Admittedly some nasty comments were made which should be discouraged, but nothing that we can tack on any punishment." The principal turned to them and gave a soft smile. "You are all free to go."

"You're letting them g-"

"Enough!" Principal Greene suddenly barked, cutting off Mr. Winchester's sentence. Ruby tried to hold a flinch. _I don't like it when adults use loud voices._ There was a warm hand on her shoulder and she met green eyes again. She relaxed almost immediately, feeling a lot better.

"Not when the children are still here," the principal continued. "You are free to go," he repeated, not looking at them this time. Needless to say, they all left in a hurry, not interested in staying for the shouting match that would soon happen.

It was only after outside when they couldn't hear their raised voices did they stop. They were all silent and none of them felt like talking.

For the rest of the day they were all subdued. Even though they had gotten off and hadn't actually done anything, they all realized that something was… off about today now. And while it didn't affect anything with their work, other people definitely seemed to see their vibe.

It wasn't until Yang, Harry, and herself all were at their house, Harry using the spare key under the rug outside to get in, that she voiced the question that she had wanted to ask since learning about it.

"Yang…" Ruby started. _How do I ask her about her getting in trouble because of fighting?_

"What's up Rubes?" Yang said, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

"Why do you have all those detentions?" Ruby asked, scared of the answer.

"Ah, they're nothing, stupid things real…ly…" Yang trailed off, looking between Harry and Ruby. Ruby took a glance and saw that Harry had a disappointed look on his face, his arms crossed, staring at Yang for her to explain. Ruby knew that she had a sadder look on her face, but still wanted answers.

Yang sighed and deflated, making Ruby worry for her. _I always hate when Yang looks weak. She's the strongest one of us here!_

"I get in trouble trying to protect you. Both of you." Lilac eyes looked at Harry and Ruby. Harry looked a little confused, and Ruby didn't follow either. "Most of them were fights because some idiot kid made fun of either one of you. If they were little things I'd just blow it off, but some… they make fun of mom too." Ruby sucked in a breath. If there was one thing she idolized more than anything, it was Summer Rose, their mom. And for people to make fun of her. "I just- I just don't want people to say or do things to you. How many times do you hear kids make fun of you? Not counting today."

Ruby frowned as she thought back. _Y'know, I don't think I can remember any. There may have been one or two times, but that was last year I think. And most is because I don't get along with others well aside from Ginger and Nate…_

"I don't think there has been any this year, and I do know that there was some kids saying things about me being adopted at first… but nothing in a while…" Harry said out loud, also thinking, coming to the same conclusion.

"Every time I hear something, I try to stop it," Yang explained. "I just can't help myself. I need to stop them. I don't want to see both of you hurt. So I take it, and put it to a stop. If that lands me in detention, then at least I earned it for a good reason…" Yang sat down heavily on the couch they had.

Ruby moved and sat next to her, moving her red cloak out of the way. Harry sat down on the other side of their sister. In unison, they started a group hug on both sides of Yang. "Yang, thank you for trying to protect us. I love you for trying to do the right thing. But don't put yourself in trouble doing it," Ruby said.

Ruby felt an arm wrap around her and pull her closer. Ruby smiled a bit feeling the familiar warmth of her perpetually toasty sister. "I know… but someone has to do it."

"Only for so long," Harry said. "As much as I hate it, we're growing up. We all want to be hunters and huntresses in the future. Ruby and I need to learn to take care of ourselves."

"You can still protect us, just let us share the job!" Ruby exclaimed enthusiastically.

Yang chuckled a bit and wiped some tears off of her face. "I'll, try. But I'm the big sister here. I still need to warn the ladies away from you," she said to Harry, "and beat the other boys away with my fists from you," she said to Ruby now.

"Yaaaaang…" Ruby whined, "Boys are icky and… I mean, not you or Nate!" Ruby added in panickedly. _Oh please don't be mad, or worse, sad! I didn't mean that! I really like you and want to keep you ar… I mean I want you to be with… I'm-I'm just gonna stop my brain right now._

To Ruby's relief, Harry just smiled. Ruby felt her face heat up for some reason and distracted herself by looking at Yang. It didn't help as Yang had a mischievous smirk on her face, as she started looking back and forth between her and Harry.

* * *

Taiyang was walking back to their house when suddenly he heard from inside the cry of _"Yaaaaaang!"_ from the other two children. He sighed to himelf, hefting the grocery bags in his arms before walking forwards again. _What'd she do now?..._

* * *

The next day they gang returned to school, but there was one person missing. Zachary Indigo was subdued and they soon knew why. Mr. Winchester wasn't working at Cobalt anymore. Apparently he had decided that he needed time to himself and was taking a leave of absence. And that also meant his office and classroom had been cleared out as well.

Even Ruby knew what _that_ 'leave of absence' meant.

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* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Umm, well yes?" Harry sighed at the answer question Ruby provided. It was her idea originally but Harry jumped onto it… until now. "Well, it's to help you so yes!" Ruby said a little more confidently.

The plan was to sneak into their dad's room and get the trunk, Harry's mom's trunk, that was found with Harry when he arrived in Remnant. It had a lot of magic stuff in it apparently, but Harry had never touched it because his dad had kept it away.

 _"Harry, look,"_ he had explained, _"there's some pretty cool stuff from the little things I've read, but some of it is dangerous. I don't want you reading it until you're older in a few years. I want you to get edjumacated first so you can actually read the stuff,"_ he added with a grin, making Harry laugh.

In the present, Harry said, "Let's go." He opened their dad's door and started to look around, Ruby sliding in after him. It was an irrational fear that they were going to get caught sneaking into dad's room if he came home unexpectedly. He had been gone for a few minutes, but they couldn't wait, as they were too eager.

Harry knew that he had magic, and it was something he wasn't supposed to talk about with people outside the family, but it was starting to get a bit hard to hide. Harry could almost feel his magic growing, and because of that, more things were happening that weren't under his control.

It happened more often when he felt a strong emotion or really wanted something, but lately it was happening without those things more and more. _Okay… it's true a little bit, but not as big as it seems. It was just getting tiring trying to think of excuses. Especially after what happened last Halloween._ Don't ask. It wasn't pretty.

Hence why they were going to take a look into the trunk.

Maybe there was something to help with his magic outbursts, or they just wanted to look at something that had been hanging over them for a while, but whatever it was now, they were there.

"Where should we look first?" Harry asked, not wanting to find anything icky about his dad. Like finding old dad underwear or something.

"Maybe under the bed?" Ruby suggested. "It's where I put my old stuff."

Harry nodded at the logic and they went to the big bed in the center of the room, which looked like it could fit at least two adults comfortably. They ducked under it and almost shmooshed their faces against the object they were looking for.

"Wow, that was easy," Harry muttered dryly. "Here, take the other handle and we'll pull it out together." He waited until he saw her slender hand grab something on the other side of the trunk. "One, two, three!" They pulled and managed to get it out into the open without much difficulty.

Harry finally got a good look at the trunk that had been his salvation over three years ago. The metal binding the dark leather to the wood was tarnished, but he could still see that it was a golden color. He saw the letters L.J.P on it, but now noticed that the 'P' wasn't as old looking as the other two letters, like it had been replaced at some point.

Harry just stared at it, feeling something bubbling up in his chest. _This is the only thing I have of my mom's. Of the other world,_ he realized.

"Hey, a key!" Ruby said suddenly, holding up a bronze key that had a string on it. Ruby suddenly looked up and almost reverently gave it to Harry. "You-you should open it. It is your mom's anyway."

Harry took it, trying to force down the shaking in his hand, then put it into the first lock of the trunk. He twisted, and just before it clicked open he felt a tingling go up his arm. _Was that some sort of magic?_ The lid popped open and Harry took his second look inside, with Ruby getting her first.

There were several books inside, some looking like journals while others were smaller books to fit into the space allotted for them. A few pieces of loose parchment were on top, if a little crinkled. Harry remembered which one that he saw and pulled it out and started to read it, this time able to understand what was written.

He felt himself tear up. He had a family. A loving family that brought him in when he desperately needed love and affection. Two amazing sisters. An incredible dad. A fun if almost always drunk Uncle. But there was one thing that they were missing was a mother.

Harry knew there was a history to their family. Yang was Ruby's half-sister since her mom left for some reason, and Ruby's mom was dead. And as bad as it sounds, at least they still had memories of Summer, who they called their mom, Harry didn't. He knew that Yang tries to fill the gap there, even now, but Harry could only see her as his caring older sister.

But to actually hold something that was written by his mother was something else. He felt the loss of something he never had, the pain of never knowing her, and also of his biological father that he only had a name for.

Harry was suddenly struck with a feeling of self-loathing. _I've only cared about my mother and not my dad! How can I think that? I'm a terrible son!_

"Harry! Harry!" He blinked and saw that Ruby was looking a little windblown for some reason. Then he realized that it was his magic causing a minor windstorm inside. Another emotional outburst. He closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the magic in his body, something that he was kinda' able to do for about a year now. He lessened the flow and the wind stopped.

He took a deep breath and it was only when he felt a pair of slender hands wrap around him did he realize that his face was wet from his own tears. He saw red and black hair right below his chin and he returned the hug, trying to reign in his tears.

They stayed like that for a long while, Harry accepting the comfort Ruby freely gave. Eventually he calmed down and the tears stopped. He became more aware of the hug and thought, _this feels really nice. But I can feel that she wants me to explain what happened._ After a time, he pulled back slightly and sniffed. Green eyes met silver, and in them he saw concern and caring. She wants me to explain, but doesn't want to force me.

He sighed, getting some air. "I… I know this is from my mother… It's the only thing I have of hers… but I realized that I have nothing of my fathers. I wasn't even thinking about him all these years! Just about her! I feel like a terrible son."

"Nope."

Harry blinked. "Wha-?"

"Nope. You're not a terrible son. Just like how you're not a terrible brother. Or a terrible person. You're not, so don't think you are," Ruby simply said. "It's not wrong to never think about someone you haven't met…" she broke off and thought about what she just said, then she nodded. "You don't remember him and you don't have anything of his. How could you think of him if there's nothing to think of?"

Harry considered the words she said. _I guess she's right… but I still feel bad._

"Harry, you want to know more about your birth family, and that's great! But you also have us. You're from another world and have two families. But… you're here, not back there. And you don't need to doubt yourself. You are a part of our family too. I… I… don't know where I'm going with this," Ruby muttered to herself, loosing steam.

Harry took a long look at Ruby. _I think I know what she's telling me. I still feel a little bit like an outsider I guess. Unsure, even after all these years. But I don't need to be. I really don't. They love me and I love them. I_ am _a Xiao Long-Potter._ Without saying anything, Harry leaned forward and hugged Ruby again. She gave an adorable squeak in surprise, but then returned the warm hug. Harry gave a little smile as the scent of roses went into his nose; Ruby's scent. He backed away, but noticed that Ruby's face had the slightest hit of pink on it.

"H-hey, maybe there's more about your father in here," Ruby said, changing topics, looking inside the trunk. Harry followed her example and looked, and decided on a journal that had the oldest date on it, 1972.

"I think these are my mom's when she was young," Harry said aloud.

"Let's start with that then. Dad still needs to 'give' you this trunk later so let's not give ourselves away just yet," Ruby said.

"Hey, that's actually kinda' smart," Harry said with a slightly teasing grin.

"Hey, I'm plenty smart! Did I tell you about just how many variations of the ADR-17 there are in use?" Ruby said indignantly.

"No, but it is the most customizable rifle that Atlas has made so far, so who knows?" Harry said in response. _One thing's for sure, Ruby knows her weapons. Dad had to buy a subscription to 'Weapons' so he could give her the magazines so she'd stop pestering him._

"I think the coolest one is the I-T Grimm Hunter laser sight. Average range is 500 yards, but with the added on barrel it can be boosted up to an extra 150 yards."

Harry just smiled and said, "C'mon, before dad gets back let's take a look at this." He also wanted to cut Ruby off before she really got into it because she could go on for ages. They closed the trunk and returned the key to where it was and exited their dad's room, taking only the first journal with them.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the two, Yang had been watching them since Harry's minor breakdown. She was going to barge in when she saw that Harry and Ruby were having a moment and decided to stay away, thinking that her presence would disrupt what they were having. _So they're trying to get into that trunk then,_ Yang thought as she saw it open in front of them. _I wonder how they managed to open it since when I tried it shocked me something nasty. Ruined my hair too which was the worst of it._ She patted her un-braided hair, soothing it in memory of that event. A few months ago she stopped wearing it in pigtails, realizing that she was older and it really didn't fit her personality anymore. She was focusing on growing it out now.

She listened in on the conversation and Harry's confession and understood where he was coming from. _He wants to know more about his parents, but only has one source: from his mother. He literally doesn't have anything from his father… like I don't have anything from my birth mother,_ she thought, frowning a bit. _But… I had Summer. He didn't. But he's turned out pretty great, and he's grown from when we first found him. He just needs to be reminded that he is a part of our family._

However, Ruby beat her to it and Yang smiled as Harry hugged Ruby. _Y'know, they are cute together,_ Yang thought to herself before she realized what she thought. _Uhh… really brain? I mean, they are but they're brother and sister… not like actual brother-sister related kinda' way, but still…_

She looked inside the room again and saw them, or rather, Ruby start talking about weapons, and decided to take her leave, still thinking about what her mind and heart were saying about the two of them.

* * *

Harry and Ruby got away with the journal, but in the end it really didn't matter as a month-ish later, Taiyang gave Harry the trunk and moved it to his room. Ruby, and sometimes Yang, would join him, but there were a few instances where Yang would give funny looks to him and Ruby. He shrugged it off and delved into the realm of magic and his parent's history, but not forgetting that he was a part of this family too.

* * *

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

"Well, this is it then," Yang said as she hugged her dad, then Harry and Ruby. _This is one of the biggest days in my life, right now._ "I'm off to Signal. I can't believe it."

"You better believe it," Ruby said in response. "And you better believe that we're following you in a year or two," she said in a slightly challenging way.

"Hey, don't fret it, you'll get in. We've been doing the prep work together and you'll definitely get in. Not to mention Uncle Qrow's been helping us out from time to time."

That was true. All three of them had their sights set on being Hunters and Huntresses, though admittedly for different reasons. But they were all going to do it. And Signal Academy was the first step in that dream.

"So you're going to be fine on your own right?" Taiyang asked. Signal was a weekday boarding school, where the students would stay from Monday to Friday, and have the weekend back at home, prepping them for the other academies which were all semester long, like Beacon on the mainland.

 _And there goes dad being dad again._ "Yep! I'm all set. And if I do need anything I could just _signal_ for help, eh?" She smirked as Harry and Ruby groaned, and fistbumped her dad in celebration.

"Can she get out any faster?" Harry commented dryly without salt.

"Well, she will be gone most of the week, so that's a plus," Ruby said back.

"Nah, you'll miss me and my puns," Yang said with a smile.

"So we'll miss about half of you then?" Harry instantly replied.

"Har har," Yang drawled and then put her sunglasses on. "I will miss you guys though," she said in all seriousness.

"Not for long! Every weekend plus in two years all of us will be at Signal!" Ruby said.

"I'll be sure to get the school ready for all of us," Yang said, ruffling Ruby's hair and doing the same with Harry, both just a tad too slow to avoid getting their hair messed up. "Though the school really just needs to get ready for me, then they'll be good."

"Hey, just think if I was back in my origin world then I'd already be going to that Magic school," Harry said. Yang needed to stifle a snort, remembering the name of the school. _Seriously, Hogwarts? What kind of name is that for a school?_

"Next year bro," Yang said in return.

Ruby came over for another hug which Yang let her get. "Hey, c'mon, it's not like I'm moving to Atlas or something. I'm still staying on the island, just next to the city." Signal was located right along the coast, and part of it stretched to the lighthouse along a cliffside.

"I know…" Ruby adorably whined, still holding on. Yang looked at Harry who just had a smile on his face watching the two sisters hug.

"Ruby, Yang needs to get going for her to be on time," Taiyang said, looking like he wanted to let them continue hugging so she wouldn't leave. But he gave up. He gently broke the two sisters apart. "You can head there on your own?" He asked one last time.

"Dad, I'm fine. I'll be fine." _Not to mention that the Hunters recently did a clearing of the Grimm here on Patch… not that dad needs to be reminded about it though, the worrywart he is._ "I'll get to town, then hop on the bus and since we set up my room last week I'll be ready to go!"

"Alright, if you're sure…" Tai said.

"I'm heading off then, going to learn to kick some butt!" Yang declared, making at least Harry and Ruby laugh. "Xiao long for now!" Yang said walking out, grinning in pride as she heard two groans and a bark of laugh behind her.

She started walking down the road to the city. _Well, this is where I can finally learn to be a Huntress. Then afterwards I can go to Beacon and then see the world and meet new people. See what the world has to offer._ In the dark places of her mind, she added, _and maybe I can track down my own mom and ask her 'why'._ But those thoughts didn't reach the forefront of her thoughts and she continued on, light of heart and mind.

Though she did wonder why it felt as if someone was watching her even though there was no one there.

* * *

Yang sighed as she sat down on the couch in her home. It had been a long three months at Signal and they were finally on their first extended break. Her Aura had been fully unlocked by the end of the second month, which is about when the teachers could tell if someone was actually serious about trying to become a Hunter/Huntress, and then proceeded onto the next step with Aura unlocking. She was lucky enough to have Qrow unlock hers for her. A nice golden glow lit up the room when her Aura activated.

On the more practical side of Signal, Yang found that none of the weapons really worked for her (though melee weapons were her favorite so far) and she liked using her fists to punch through something. However she still needed to discover her Semblance. She was in the middle of the pack for that as some were early bloomers who had their Aura and Semblance figured out. _Kinda' like Harry now that I think about it, with his magic partially controlled, and the other part uncontrolled,_ she thought to herself as she just rested.

Of course for her, she wasn't very patient and it felt like it was taking forever for her to get her semblance.

 _I'll get it, though I just want to get it sooner._

"Hey Yang!" Harry said, looking around a corner.

"What's up?" Yang asked.

"Could you come with us for a moment? We want a third opinion on something that we've read," he said, a second head popping out over his, causing him to slightly stumble with the added weight.

 _Probably some magic-y thing,_ Yang thought. "Alright, I'll be there." She stood up and started walking.

Then her bare foot kicked the coffee table.

Specifically her little toe hit it.

There was a beat. Everything paused and the universe held its breath.

 _Did I just…?_

Then the pain hit.

"OOOOOOWWWWWWW!" Yang screamed in pain as she hopped on her good foot, holding up her wounded foot, cradling it, specifically her toe. _That hurts! That HURTS! God that hurts so bad! I'm an idiot!_

Strangely enough, while her toe hurt, the rest of her felt _really strong_ for some reason. And her head kinda' felt hot too.

"Yang! _Yang_! Your head's on fire!" Harry suddenly shouted, his eyes wide in panic.

 _What?_ Yang looked over at the turned off T.V screen to see her reflection and sure enough saw literal flames coming off of her head. "AH! DAD! MY HAIR IS ON FIRE!" She screamed for Tai.

"I don't want Yang to die!" Ruby shouted, tears of worry and fright coming down her face.

"Get to the kitchen!" Harry shouted, rushing forward, pushing her in the direction.

"What in the blazes is going on h-" Taiyang thundered into the room to this scene. Yang looked up at him and their eyes met. His eyes grew wide and he seemed to freeze in place. She thought he muttered something under his breath, then his eyes flickered upwards to her head. Then the panic set in. "Oh shit! Kitchen! Now!" Time resumed again and they all ran into the kitchen. Taiyang opened up the faucet and Yang stuck her head under it.

There was a sizzling and steam filled the air, but thankfully Yang wasn't feeling the fire anymore after shaking her head around in the water stream. She finally felt fine and turned off the water. Harry was there with a towel, which she took, drying her hair. "Okay, so what happened?" Taiyang asked.

"So…" Yang got her thoughts together. "I stubbed my pinky toe. It hurt really bad and I got mad at myself… but… my toe hurt but the rest of me felt strong for some reason."

Taiyang was silent, as well as Ruby and Harry. The three kids were looking at the one adult of the room. Tai hummed in thought then said, "This happened after you stubbed your toe?"

"Yeah."

"You hit yourself, and when you did, you felt stronger?"

"I guess I did," Yang agreed. Where is he going with this?

Making a decision, Taiyang stood up. "You know how to project your Aura to protect you, right?"

"Duh, it's one of the first things we learn," Yang said.

"Do it right now," Tai said.

"O…kay?" Yang concentrated and felt that comforting and protecting feeling come forward, going around her body, expecting something.

Though that something didn't include the scenario of her own father punching her in the gut.

"Ooof!" Yang was almost winded from the blow, but her Aura absorbed it, not causing any real damage. And at the same time, she felt a massive rush of energy and she felt stronger. Way stronger.

She looked up at her dad, eyes narrowed slightly because he, even though for a good reason, still punched her. Once again, his eyes widened slightly and this time Yang heard him mumble, _"Just like her's…"_ He shook his head again. "Well, how do you feel now?"

"Annoyed, slightly angry, stronger," Yang admitted.

"Wow Yang, you have red eyes now," Ruby said in amazement.

"What?" Harry quickly snapped a photo and showed her. Indeed she now had red eyes instead of her normal lilac color iris. "That's strange."

"Well," Taiyang said, getting their attention. "The teachers at Signal would be better to further test this, but I think this might be your semblance: to get power from hits you take."

That hung in the air for a while before Yang said, "Okay, that's seriously like O.P. right there."

"That's… wow." It wasn't often that Harry was at a loss for words, but here was one moment right now.

"That's so cool!" Ruby cheered. "Yang you're like super strong already! Now you're even stronger!"

Yang had a growing smile on her face. _This is incredible, finding my semblance… over something so stupid though._ "What was with my hair though?" She asked.

Taiyang shrugged, though he did say, "I don't know, but fire is something we Xiao Long's know about." He breathed in a bit and then huffed out, but instead of just normal air, a lick of flame came out of his mouth. "There's a reason our name has 'dragon' in it."

"Oh. And here I was thinking it was our fiery personality and natural hot-headedness." This time however, there were snorts and chuckles all around.

Okay, life is good, she thought with a smile.

* * *

Taiyang stared at the screen, waiting for the call to go through. After a moment, the screen showed the face of his old teammate. " _So, what's the special occasion Tai?_ " Qrow asked over the video. His flask was in his hand again. _Seriously, I wonder if he just pops off that hand and exchanges it for the one with his scythe, since it seems that it's either one or the other that's glued on._

"Yang discovered her semblance today," Tai said.

" _Oh? And…?_ "

"Well, for one, she deserves the name firecracker now. Apparently it's some sort of power-up semblance, where she gets power from getting hit."

Qrow blinked his dull red eyes. " _Huh. That sounds seriously O.P._ "

"That's what Harry said," Tai said with a smirk.

" _Smart kid. But that's not it though. What's the wes- rest?_ " Qrow said, becoming serious again. Well, as serious as he could when he's buzzed and starting to slur.

"It's… I… I think when it activates… her eyes… they're Raven's," he said, sounding pained to say so.

Qrow narrowed his own eyes. " _You sure?_ " Tai just stared at him. _Yes I know. I was on a team with her for four years, and married for another two. I know her eyes._ " _Alright_ _then_ ," Qrow said when he got the message Tai was sending. " _She_ is _her_ _daughter_ _by genetics you know_."

"Yes yes, I know, it's just that…" Tai trailed off.

" _You think that she might learn of this_." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Tai admitted.

" _Well, look at the bright side,_ " Qrow said, taking a swig.

"And what's that?" Tai asked, slightly aggressive.

Qrow fixed him with a dead stare. _"If she wanted to, she probably already knew before you called."_

In the time that it happened and the time Taiyang called, ten minutes had gone by. Ten minutes after he had gone straight to the phone. Ten minutes in which she probably somehow got everything she wanted to know when she wasn't anywhere nearby.

And wasn't that a cheering thought?

* * *

 _Today's the day._

 _Today's the day I've been waiting for._

 _The dream that I had for years finally flowering._

Harry looked up at the buildings in front of him, surrounded by a thick wall.

 _Today's the day I'm going to Signal._

* * *

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

* * *

 **And thus begins the Signal Academy arc! The next true arc of this story! We'll get to see exactly what Harry can do and what weapon he's going to get. And more Harry/Ruby as well! There were hits of it in here, so I hoped you liked the fluff. Strangely enough, I have a hard time with fluff. It doesn't flow as much as other things, unlike other authors that can ship it by the cargo freighter. Hope it was good enough!**

 **And don't worry, we'll actually see more of what was inside the trunk during the Signal arc, and what was written too.**

 **Lots of references in here if you can find them. The last one was inspired by I believe it was RTX Australia** **where they had the mocap of Ruby and Yang answering questions, and Yang/Barbara said she stubbed her toe for her semblance (I think, it's been a couple years since I've seen it) and a recent picture I saw where Yang's head was on fire and the dialogue was almost exactly as is.**

 **And now for some of the reviews... well, I won't admit that this is my strongest or most thought out story. The numerous re-writes attest to that. But it is what it is, and either read it or don't. I'm sorry if I disappoint, but I try not to. ( ``/)**

 **Anywho, thanks for your patience for this story! I'm going to get started on the rest of my queue after I sleep a bit.**

 **Remember to R.R.F.F (Read, Review, Favorite, Follow)**

 **-OrangeGalen**


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